For Users of Zenith Computers
gnaNT
Issue No. 31 NovembeF-Decemli^r iW? $3.50
Smooth Sailing With a ’240
See page 12
Opening Windows
on Your ’100, pageS2
Use Your ’ISO’s
Unused Memory, page ss
Piug a Hard Disk
into Your ’ISO, page 9
The Last Nationai
HUGCON, page24
It’s easy to add a hard disk to a Z150.
Just plug this circuit card into an
empty expansion slot. The software
installation, though, requires knowing a
trick or two.
They’re calling it the Last National
HUGCON. Some people think we
should do it again sometime. Do you?
Features
Plug a Hard Disk on a Card into Your ’150
JoAnne Benedict
Smooth Sailing with a Z240
David W. Zimmerly
ZlOO Notebook
William N. Locke
The focus is on products for the ZlOO. But the communi¬
cations package we look at is also available for Zenith s
other computers running MS-DOS. We also check out a
network that can link ZlOOs and Zenith s IBM compati¬
bles. Other products considered include a video
enhancement kit, a hard-disk system, and a memory
board that holds as much as 2 MB.
The Last National HUGCON
Victoria Saxon
Cramolin Cleans Computer Contacts
Gerald Cramm
If you’re plagued with random system crashes, this may
be the solution for you.
9
12
16
24
36
Issue #31
November-December 1987
Standard Operating Procedure
EDLIN: An MS-DOS Lifeboat
William M. Adney 40
EDLIN is included with MS-DOS at no extra charge.
That’s no reason to ignore it. There are some little tasks
for which it may come in handy. Once you get to know it.
The Eight-Bit World
Walter J. Janowski 47
Where else would you hear about a half dozen software
packages priced between $12 and $45? These provide
some enhancements to CP/M. And, if you’re willing to go
as high as $49.95, you can pick up a compiler to support
programming in Modula-2.
Opening Windows on Your ’100
Robert W Rasch 52
Zenith includes Microsoft Windows with every computer
sold with a hard disk. H/ZlOO users have to pay to add it to
their systems. What do you get for that extra expense?
Use Your ’ISO’s Unused Memory
David D. Clark 58
What do you do when you find 15K of RAM going to waste
in your 150? Here are a couple of suggestions.
Before you leave on that world cruise,
it might be worth adding a Z240 to
your sailboat. The computer can be a
source of income as well as an aid to
navigation.
Departments
The Editorial Eye
2
Letters
4
ZlOO Notebook
16
Index to Advertisers
46
The Eight-Bit World
47
Supplier Notes
73
Classified Ads
75
Scuttlebutt
76
Cover photo by David W. Zimmerly
The Editorial Eye
If a computer system can do only one thing at a time, that one thing had
better be significant.
But if a computer system can manage several contemporaneous programs,
we can afford to devote some of its processing power to relatively simple tasks.
The multi-tasking operating system makes little programs respectable again.
(A dozen years ago, little programs were the only kind you could write if your
computer had only 256 bytes of memory.) One nice thing about little programs
is that they can be written by individuals. Most “significant” software is written
by teams of programmers.
Zenith Data Systems has announced it will be shipping a multi-tasking
operating system by the end of 1987. Microsoft Corp.’s Operating System/2
(OS/2) will run on a Z248, Z386, or the new Z286—or any other Zenith
computer with an 80286 or 80386 microprocessor. (You need a hard disk, at
least 1.5 megabytes of RAM, and EGA or better video.) ZDS notes it signed up
for OS/2 before any other manufacturer of machines compatible with the IBM
Personal Computer. In particular, it beat Compaq Computer Corp. (IBM no
longer makes any 80286 machines compatible with the IBM PC.)
In further support of the individual programmer, who may have a tight
budget for hardware. Heath Company announced in August that there will be
a kit version of the Z386. The H386 was introduced to Heath/Zenith Users
Group members at a price of $3,349 during HUGCON. (For more on this
gathering at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare, see page 24.)
Heath/Zenith users are in a good position to pioneer some little programs for
OS/2. But why wait for a new operating system? We have an article in this issue
about David Clark’s little program that fits into a corner of the Z150’s memory
that MS-DOS doesn’t mess with. (See page 58.)
In the months between the announcement of OS/2 and its release, Micro¬
soft’s new operating system picked up a reputation of being suitable primarily
for sophisticated users. It’s too soon to tell whether this reputation will be
confirmed once OS/2 is widely available.
Zenith Data Systems does have something to offer Z386 users who prefer to
stick with MS-DOS 3: Microsoft’s Windows/386 operating environment. This
will allow the simultaneous use of several programs written for MS-DOS.
Windows/386 runs under MS-DOS 3 to share system resources among the
programs in use. In particular, Windows/386 allows each program to have its
own display window within the computer screen.
ZDS will continue to bundle version 1 of Microsoft Windows with each of its
computers having a hard disk and either an 80286 or 8088 microprocessor. On
page 52 of this issue, a ZlOO user describes this initial implementation of
Windows. The article should provide a good preview of what we can expect
from Windows/386. (The most obvious difference is that Windows/386 will
allow display windows to overlap, while Windows 1 butts them together like
tiles.)
Sextant first looked at Windows in our May-June 1984 issue. We have
further coverage of Windows in the works for 1988. Windows promises to link
up the ZlOO to a supply of software aimed at the much larger marketplace in
which ZDS’s current computers find themselves.
A physical link between ZlOOs and Zenith’s IBM compatibles is described in
this issue’s “ZlOO Notebook” (page 16).
Charles Floto
Editor
Publisher
John Gill
Assistant Publisher
Beverly Voigt
Managing Editor
John Walker
Technical Editor
Kieran O’Leary
Retail Sales Manager
Assistant Editor
Dana F. Lomhardy
Advertising Manager
Special Projects Marketing Manager
Gahriele Burkhard
Production Assistant
Daniel J. Duch
Circulation Assistant
Deborah L. Peel
Office Assistant
Walter J. Janowski
Contributor
Joseph Katz
Contributor
William N. Locke
Contributor
Subscription Service • 202/544-0900
Advertising Inquiries • 202/544-2868
Charles Floto • 202/544-0484
Sextant (ISSN 0731-2180) is published
bimonthly by Sextant Publishing Co.,
716 E Street, S.E., Washington, DC
20003. Second-class postage paid at
Washington, DC and at additional mail¬
ing offices. POSTMASTER: Send ad¬
dress changes to Sextant, 716 E Street,
S.E., Washington, DC 20003.
Copyright® 1987 by Sextant Publishing
Co. All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reprinted or other¬
wise reproduced without written per¬
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the U.S.A. by Waverly Press, Inc.,
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Subscription rates: 6 issues (1 year) in
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“Heath” and “Heathkit’’ are trademarks
of the Heath Company. “CP/M” is a
trademark of Digital Research. “Unix”
is a trademark of AT&T Bell Labs.
Opinions expressed by writers do not
necessarily represent the views of their
employers, or of Sextant Publishing Co.
2 Sextant November-December 1987
1977 QUIKDATA, INC. 1987
ONE DECADE OF CONFIDENCE
That’s right! We’ve been here for 10 YEARS serving the Heath/Zenith computer world! Remember the H8? We were
there then and we are here now! We have been a leader in supplying hardware, software, and guidance to H/Z users in
the past 10 years. Between Quikdata and our H/Z related newsletter H-SCOOP, you can’t go wrong. Let us help you
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MEMORY AND STORAGE DEVICES
M4164 150ns 64K RAM chips $1.49
M41256 150ns 256K DRAM CHIPS $2.95
M41256F 120ns 256k CHIPS $3.29
M41256T 100ns 256K CHIPS $3.79
Z150MP memory mapping PAL for use in H/Z150/160 systems to
allow up to 704K or system RAM on main memory board.
Requires 18 M41256 memory chips plus up to three banks (27) of
the 64K M4164 chips. $19
MEGARAM-150 for the H/Z160 computers allows up to 704K
system memory and 512K RAM drive memory. Software included.
Uses up to 5 banks (45) of the M41256 memory chips.
MEGARAM $43
SMARTCLOCK - Clock/Calendar ROM socket plug-in (with built
in battery back-up) for Z100 and PC computers. Very easy
installation - eliminates wasted slot. Add $2 to price for Z100
computer for spacer kit. $37
Z150W20 21 MEG WINCHESTER FOR PC’S. This unit includes
Segate ST-225 21 meg half-height winchester drive, WD controller,
cables, and mounting hardware where applicable. Complete kit
with PREPped winchester ready to install and go.
Z150W20
Z150W40 Same but 42 meg ST-251
WESTERN DIGRAL WINNIE CONTROLLER FOR PC’S
COMPLETE 21 MEG Z100 WINNIE SETUP
BARE WINCHESTER DRIVES
TM262 Tandon 3.5" 21 meg winchester/5" frame
ST-225 half height 21 meg 80ms
ST-251 half height 42 meg 37ms
ST-4096 full voice coil 80meg 37ms
FLOPPY DRIVES
SA-455 half-ht DS DD 360K
TM10Q-2 Tandon full DS DD 360K
TM100-2R Tandon refurb 360K
SIEM-R SS Siemens refurbs (HI 7 type H8/H89)
TMKXMR Tandon DS DD 96TPI refurb
MF504 Mitsubishi 96TPI/-AT switchable
MF353 Mitsubishi 3.5" DS PC drive
COMPUTERS
We carry the full line of Zenith computers, but since our prices are
too low we are not allowed to list them here. If you are interested
in a system, call or write for a complete system quote. Tell us
what you want In the system and we’ll be glad to quote you a
price. To the basic systems we can add additional memory,
drives, winchesters, whatever you need. All systems come with
MS-DOS 3.x operating system.
H8A189 STUFF
H37 SOFT SECTOR CONTROLLER BOARD $195
WH8-37 H8 SOFT SECTOR/WINNIE CONTROLLER $295
KEYBOARD AUTO REPEAT (kit $33), assembled $ 43
16K H89 MEMORY EXPANSION BOARD $ 49
AS-IS H89 CPU & TLB BOARDS $ 39
REFURB WORKING H89 CPU/TLB BOARDS $ 79
21 MEG WINCHESTER SUBSYSTEM (requires HDOS/CP/M
software package for $95 and host adapter card. H8 uses WH8-
37 and H89 can use Z67 or ADD320).
H20 $595
ADD320 SASI winchester with 3 serial ports $145
We also have H89: keyboards, power supplies and parts, video
boards, cables, HI 7 disk controllers, serial I/O boards, memory
chips, software. H/Z100: keyboards, "as-is" motherboards, floppy
and winchester controllers, video boards, etc. We often have
various boards for H8’s, H/Z150 and 160 series and much more.
PANASONIC PRINTERS
KXP-1081i 80 column 120 cps F/T parallel $195
KXP-1091i 80 column 160 cps F/T parallel $229
KXP-1092i 80 column 240cps F/T parallel $349
.
$469
$29
$25
$37
$37
$24
$28
$19
$19
$21
$29
$395
$129
$ 99
$ 89
$ 79
$119
$ 95
$ 69
$189
$359
$569
KXP-3151 daisy Diablo 630 compatible
OISKETTES
$89
3740/2D
8" DS DD SOFT
3740/1
8" SS SD SOFT
$649
204/2D
5” DT DS DD SOFT
207/20
5" DT DS DD HARD
104/20
5" ST DS DD SOFT
$349
107/20
5" ST DS DD HARD
$279
5H-11 Sentinel
5" ST SS SD 10-HOLE HARD
$495
UHRII
Oysan UHR for ATs
$895
X35
Xidex/Dysan DS 3 1/2"
3520
Dysan nigh end 3 1/2"
$129
SOFTWARE
$129
dBASEIII PLUS
$ 79
COUGAR PC ACCOUNONG
$ 59
BROOKLYN BRIOGE
$ 95
BOOKMARK
$149
QUIKBASIC COMPILER
$139
FASHTBACK
DESKVIEW
SMARTNOTES
SILK 1-2-3 like spreadsheet
We carry a full line of computers, monitors, modems, disk drive
and winchester drives, cabinets and cables, software, hardware,
surge and spike suppressors, line conditioners, backup power
supplies, serial printer interfaces, print buffers, A/B switches,
utilities and much more.
Call or write for a free obligalion catalog of our product line and/or a sample issue of our KLSCOOP H/Z newsletter. VISA and MC
accepted All prices are CASH prices - PC’s add 5% and pick up 3% S&H. Charge cards pick up 3% S&H. Cash orders over $100 shippinq
on us. All orders under $100 pay $4 S&H. Note: Prices (especially memory chips) subject to change without notice. Hours: lOAN^SPM
Monday-Thursday, 10AM-3PM (Central time) Friday.
QUIKDATA, INC,
2618 Penn Circle
Sheboygan, WI 53081
(414) 452-4172
Circle #221 on Reader Service Card
Sextant November-December 1987 3
Letters
Update on the ’248
In the process of adding a couple of
expansion boards to my Z248 computer, I
noticed two errors I made in writing my
review of the machine (“The Z248: One
User’s Impressions” in Sextant #30,
September-October 1987).
First, I observed that there are two of
the Zenith-designed 128-pin connec¬
tors—rather than one, as I said in the
article —that are not used.
Second, I incorrectly noted the speed
of the RAM chips on the CPU card as
being 120-nanosecond devices. The chips
installed are soldered to the board, and
are 100 ns. A call to the Heath technical-
support line revealed that memory chips
must be 125 ns or faster to work in the
Z248. That means that 120s will probably
work, but you are coming pretty close to
that limit. A marginal chip will most
likely cause trouble.
I don’t know exactly how I failed to
notice a slot, or how I misread the RAM
chips. I regret any inconvenience that
this may have caused.
Incidentally, I have been searching for
an alternative to the Zenith memory-
expansion boards for the ’248. The
BocaRAM AT (from Boca Research, Inc.,
6401 Congress Ave., Boca Raton, FL
33431; 305/997-6227) provides a way to
fill out the extra 128K of conventional
memory, as well as giving you either ex¬
panded or extended memory of up to 2
MB (4 MB with the addition of a daugh¬
terboard). The best news of all is that with
the proper RAM chips, it will work fine
with the high-speed Z248.
Kirt Alan Winter
Corvallis, OR
The missing code
Thought I would let you know that I
really enjoyed the May-June 1987 issue of
Sextant. The article on setting Epson
printer functions [“Set Epson Printer
Eunctions on the 100 or 150,” by Richard
L. Mueller, Sextant #28] was particularly
interesting because I have been looking
for a program to do just that. The fact that
it was for MS-DOS as well as for CP/M,
especially CP/M-86, was really appreciat¬
ed, since I have a ZlOO and use both
operating systems.
I ran into a few problems with the
CP/M-86 version of the program and dis¬
covered some code had been left out.
(See Listings A and B.)
Please keep up the good work and con¬
tinue your excellent coverage of the ”100
and CP/M. I, for one, am still on the
lookout for CP/M programs to run on my
system.
Mike Wolfson
Ashland, OH
The ’171: plus and minus
I have used a Zenith ”171 computer as
my only computer since the fall of 1985. I
had been using an H89, which I was quite
happy with, but as I travelled a lot, I
needed something I could take with me.
A computer has now become indispensa¬
ble to me as a tool for writing generally,
and particularly for storing and retrieving
both observational data and bibliographic
references that I use in my research and
publications. Of the portables available at
the time I had to buy one, this was clearly
the best; and I have had no major
CMP
AL,'I*
JZ
INIT
;if initialize printer requested
CMP
AL,*B»
JZ
CBUF
;clear printer buffer
CMP
AL,*S*
MOV
BX,OFFSET SETM
;preset for "set" request
JZ
P4
;if "set" requested
CMP
AL, 'C
MOV
BX,OFFSET CLRM
JZ
P4
;if "clear"
Listing A. See “The missing code ” below, left. The shaded portions of the code
above are to be inserted in the CP/M-86 version of SPF given in Richard L.
Mueller’s article in Sextant #28. They should be inserted between the last lines
shown on page 74 and the first lines shown on page 75 of that issue.
LCTRC
EQU
OFFSET $-SCTRC
MENMSG
DB
CC ESC,’E»
;Clear screen
DB
'SPF - SET PRINTER (EPSON) CONTROL FUNCTIONS...'
DB
CC_LF,CC_CR
DB
'Copyright (C)
1984 Richard L. Mueller, Ph.D.'
DB
CC_LF,CC_CR,CC_
.LF
DB
'Print Modes;'
DB
CC LF,CC CR
DB
' SC / CC
Set / Clear Condensed Printing'
DB
CC LF,CC_CR
DB
' SX / CX
Set / Clear Enlarged Printing'
DB
CC LF,CC CR
DB
' SM / CM
Set / Clear Emphasized Printing'
DB
CC LF,CC CR
DB
' SP / CP
Set / Clear Proportional Printing'
DB
CC LF,CC_CR
DB
' SD / CD
Set / Clear Double Strike Printing'
DB
CC LF,CC CR
DB
' SE / CE
Set Elite Chars / Clear = Set Pica'
DB
' Chars'
DB
CC LF,CC_CR,CC_
.LF
DB
'Paper Functions;'
DB
CC LF,CC CR
DB
' SS / CS -
Set / Clear Skip over Paper '
DB
'Perforations'
DB
CC LF,CC CR
DB
' S8 / C8
Set 8 LPI / Clear = 6 LPI'
DB
CC LF,CC CR
DB
' SL / CL
Set Left Margin Over 2 Columns / '
DB
'Clear = Reset Left Margin'
DB
CC LF,CC CR,CC
_LF
DB
'MISC. Functions:',CC_LF,CC_CR
DB
' B
Clear Printer Buffer'
DB
CC LF,CC_CR
DB
' E
Eject Paper - New Page',CC_LF,CC_CR
DB
' I
Initialize Printer'
DB
CC LF,CC CR
DB
' Q
Quit - Return to CP/M-86'
DB
CC CR,'$'
IREQ
DB
CC ESC,'Y',(31+24),(31+1),CC_ESC,'1 ?? $'
ILLREQ
DB
CC_ESC,'Y',(31+24),(31+8)
DB
' Illegal Request...Try Again....$'
CLEAR
DB
CC_ESC,'E$'
END
Listing B. See “The missing code,” left. The labels shown shaded are to be
inserted at the left of the appropriate lines given on page 77 of Sextant #28. The
rest of each line remains unchanged.
4 Sextant November-December 1987
problems using it as my only computer. I
would like to make a few brief comments,
however, with regard to Wayne Rash, Jr.’s
article in your May-June 1987 issue [“’150
Compatibility, To Go,” Sextant #28]. By
and large his assessment is fair, but peo¬
ple might be interested in another
writer’s view of the machine.
Though I do not have the “supertwist”
screen, I find the display adequate most
of the time. The drawback is that it is
almost impossible for two people to look
at it at the same time; their angles of
viewing are different, and hence, a good
adjustment for one viewer is often quite
bad for the other. A possible plus for this
sort of screen might be that it lacks the
health hazards to which people are ex¬
posed by long hours in front of CRTs. (1
don’t know if this is a fact, however.)
For me, the keyboard’s smallness is not
a problem. Its feel is as good as the best 1
have tried. But the programs I use the
most (XyWrite and FYI-3000) require fre¬
quent use of the function keys (fi, etc.),
and their placement on this machine is a
decided disadvantage. They are too far
away from the main keyboard.
The primary disappointment of this
computer, and a major one too, is that its
autonomy on battery is so short. Rash
says he gets three hours of useful activity
per charge, but I am lucky if I get even
two hours. And the “battery low” warning
tends to go on too late to permit me to
save my data! The only time the machine
accidentally erased a whole disk was
when I tried to save a text and the battery
power was insufficient (without prior
warning) to do the job. Thus one of my
main hopes for the machine is quite dis¬
appointed. I had hoped to be able to take
it into libraries, meetings, and even Afri¬
can villages where I could use it for taking
notes away from power sources.
On the other hand, it is possible to
adjust the power supply box for current of
either 110 or 220 volts AC, though to do
so requires opening the box and a
somewhat delicate maneuver inside it. I
had to make this change so that I could
use the computer in France and else¬
where in Europe, but could have re¬
ceived a shock and/or damaged the power
supply if I hadn’t done it properly. (The
manual says “This setting should only be
changed by a qualified service techni¬
cian.”)
Paul Riesman
Paris, France
We cant he sure, but perhaps the battery
problem is related to the peculiarities of
nicad charging patterns. Readers who
have problems in this area might want to
look at Don Carters article, “The Z181:
Portability Without Compromise,” in
Sextant #29, July-August 1987.
Checking out IBM software on
the 100
I write this short letter simply to thank
both you and Robert S. Logan for the
article “Taming the Wild Interrupt” in the
July-August 1987 issue of Sextant. Two
things in particular impressed me about
the article:
1. There were no errors in the program
listing for TAME.ASM.
2. The program worked perfectly for me
on all of the IBM software that I tried.
Robert E. Heath
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
File privacy
With reference to Joseph Katz’s elabo¬
rate efforts to illustrate privacy for the
files on a disk in MS-DOS (“C Notes,”
Sextant #30, September-October 1987),
MS-DOS already has the utilities to ac¬
complish that task with style and subtlety.
FLAGS.COM will set the attributes of a
file to Hidden, or you can use Pat
Swayne’s ATTRIB.COM (published in
REMark, vol. 5, issue 12, December
1984, pages 40-42), which does the same
thing.
You can hide all of the files on a disk by
just typing FLAGS *.*, but you can’t use
them without resetting the attributes.
You can hide a file and have use of it by
setting the attribute to System. I use
FLAGS FLAGS.COM S as a way to hide the
attribute-setting utility on a disk;
sometimes I even change its name to
something else. Then I can type FLAGS *.*
and—Presto!—all of the hidden files
appear.
Pat Swayne’s program is particularly
good because if you just type ATTRIB you
will get a list of the command structure.
There are a number of four-letter
words that one can use to hide the
ATTRIB.COM while it is hidden with the
system attribute. I prefer LOVE.
Should you get trapped, you can always
use HADES (the Heath Absolute Disk
Editor) to see all of the files and what
attribute is set. If you have HADES, it is
like being in heaven when you have a disk
directory problem in MS-DOS 2. It even
allows you to reset the attributes.
Robert W. Rasch
Johnson City, TN
Send a Letter to Sextant
We re always interested to
get your reactions to what you
see in this magazine. Address
your letters to:
Letters Dept.
Sextant Magazine
716 E Street S.E.
Washington, DC 20003
Published letters will be
edited according to style and
space requirements. Due to
the volume of mail received,
we are unable to print or
respond to every letter we
receive.
Circle #106 on Reader Service Card
Sextant November-December 1987 5
-- .
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USR-1200-S: Sportster 1200 Baud External.$ 129.00
USR-1200-V: Varmodem 1200 Baud Internal.$ 119.00
USR-2400-CE: Courier 2400E Baud External .$ 475.00
USR-2400-M: Microline 2400 Baud Internal with Telpac Software
.$ 435.00
USR-2400-V: Varmodem 2400 Baud Internal.$ 205.00
USR-9600-C: Courier HST 9600 Baud External .$ 785.00
HARD DISK DRIVES & CONTROLLERS
All Hard Disk Drives come with Installation Instructions and a
One Year Replacement Warranty. System Orders (hard disk & controller)
come with Cables and Hardware. All controllers capable of handling two
drives unless otherwise specified.
PC COMPATIBLE HARD DISK SYSTEMS
ST-225PC: 20 MB. Hard Disk with Controller*. $ 329.00
ST238RC: 30 MB. Hard Disk with RLL Controller* . $ 379.00
ST-251PC: 40 MB. Hard Disk with Controller* .. $ 529.00
ST-251 RC: 44 MB. Hard Disk with RLL Controller*. $ 545.00
ST-277RC: 65 MB. Hard Disk with RLL Controller*. $ 610.00
* Your Choice of Seagate, OMTI, or Western Digital Controller.
AT COMPATIBLE HARD DISK SYSTEMS
ST-225AT: 20 MB., 65 ms.. Half Height. $ 299.00
ST-251AT: 40 MB., 40 m.. Half Height. $ 458.00
ST-251 RT: 44 MB. Hard Disk with AT RLL Floppy/HD Controller
.$ 699.00
ST-277RT: 65 MB. Hard Disk with AT RLL Floppy/HD Controller
.$ 769.00
ST-4038: 30 MB., 40 ms.. Full Height.$ 605.00
ST-4053: 45 MB., 28 ms.. Full Height.$ 715.00
ST-4096: 80 MB., 28 ms.. Full Height.$ 995.00
MS-3650: 30 MB., 28 ms.. Half Height.$ 480.00
MS-6085: 80MB., 28 ms.. Full Height.$ 990.00
V - _^_I---
--
RAM TECHNOLOGY HARD CARDS
OLHC-20: 20 MB. Hard Card featuring AUTO-START and AUTO-PARK
heads, 65 ms.$ 425.00
OLHC-30: 30 MB. Hard Card featuring AUTO-START and AUTO-PARK
heads. 65 ms. > 475.00 j
HOLIDAY SPECIAL
$10.00 OFF
Any PC or AT Compatible Hard Disk Drive
Offer Expires January 1, 1988
FLOPPY DISK DRIVES
All Disk Drives come with Installation Instructions, Hardware and
One Year Replacement Warranty.
MF501 A: Mitsubishi 360K, 5y4" Half Height, 48 TPI .... $ 109.00
MF504A: Mitsubishi 1.2 MB, 5y4" Half Height, 96 TPI .. $ 139.00
PAN-360: Panasonic 360K, 5y4" Half Height, 48 TPI.... $ 109.00
PAN-120: Panasonic 1.2 MB, 5y4" Half Height, 96 TPI. . $ 139.00
PAN-720: Panasonic 720K, 3y2".$ 110.00
MULTI-PORT SERIAL BOARDS
For applications requiring multiple serial ports, i.e., Xenix, Unix, BBS,
etc. All boards Include necessary hardware. Order Drivers Separately One
Year Warranty.
DBCOM4S: Four Serial Ports. Compatible with systems up to 16 MHz
.$ 409.00
DBCOM8S: Eight Serial Ports. Compatible with systems up to 16 MHz
.$ 640.00
DBCOM4i: Four Serial Port Intelligent Controller, 80186 Processor, On
Board Buffering. Compatible with systems up to 16 MHz.$ 825.00
DBCOM8I: Eight Serial Port Intelligent Controller, 80186 Processor,
On BoardBuffering.Compatiblewithsystemsupto 16 MHz.... $ 995.00
DBMSDOS: MS-DOS Device Driver.$ 25.00
DBMDV22: Microport V/286 2.2 Device Driver.$ 35.00
DBSDV22: SCO Xenix V/286 2.2 Device Driver .$ 35.00
_—-—- y
SOFTWARE ^
RAM Technology carries a complete line of software for your computer
system. Call us Toll Free for pricing and availability on your software
requirements.
Microport Unix V/286 Version 2.2
Run-Time System (2 User License) . $ 180.00
Microsoft QuickBASIC Compiler ver. 3.0.$ 79.95
Microsoft Quick C Compiler.$ 79.95
Microsoft Macro Assembler ver. 5.0. $ 120.00
Borland Turbo Basic Compiler.$ 79.95
Borland Turbo C Compiler.$ 79.95
SCO Xenix V/286 Version 2.2
Operating System (14 User License).$ 465.00
Software Development System.$ 445.00
Text Preparation System. $ 155.00
Complete Xenix System.— $ 970.00
FIFTH GENERATION’S FASTBACK.$ 125.00
HILGRAEVEHYPERACCESS(Z-IOOorPCversion).... $ 119.00
ONTRACK Disk Manager.$ 55.00
ONTRACK Disk Manager Diagnostics.$ 55.00
- 1 -/
HOLIDAY SPECIAL
FREE SHIPPING ON ORDERS OVER $50.00
Anywhere In The Continental U.S.A.
Offer Expires January 1, 1988
TERMS
Prices and specifications subject to change without notice. Personal checks
held 10 working days; money orders accepted as cash. Please add 2%
(minimum $2.50) for shipping. COD orders accepted: cash or cashier’s
check only. VISA/MC accepted. Purchase orders accepted from qualified
businesses, government agencies, and educational institutions.
\!_ J
6 Sextant November-December 1987
r ---\
RAM TECHNOLOGY
All RAM Technology products include Hardware, Installation Instructions,
and One Year Warranty. No soldering is required.
Z-1001.2 MB External Floppy System; utilize your z-ioo’s built-
in 8” controller for high capacity storage and back-up. System includes
drive(s), cables, external power supply and cabinet.
DRSZ112-1: One SVV’ 1.2 MB High Density Floppy Disk Drive
system.$ 249.00
DRSZ112-2: Two S’A” 1.2 MB High Density Floppy Disk Drive
system. .$ 439.00
Z-MAX 100: 768K Memory Upgrade for new motherboard Z-IOO’s;
#181-4918 or greater; simple plug-in installation.$ 59.95
Z"MAX 148: 704K Memory Upgrade for the H/Z 148 computer
. $ 19.95
Z-MAX 150: 640/704K Memory Upgrade for H/Z 150/160 series
computer. Installs on your existing memory board.$ 24.95
Z-MEG 150: 1.2 MB. Memory Upgrade for H/Z 150/160 series
computer. Up to 704K of addressable memory and 512K RAM DISK can be
installed on your existing memory board. Please specify 640K EGA
compatible or 704K Version when ordering. RAM-DSK software included
.$ 49.95
Z-MEG 171: 1 MB. Memory Upgrade for the ZFL-171. Up to 640K of
addressable memory and a 360K RAM DISK can be installed on your
existing memory board. Software included. Developed jointly by FBE
Research and RAM Technology.$ 89.95
Z-181 External 5y4” Disk Drive; 360K DS/DD 48 tpi Disk Drive
mounted in half height enclosure. Interface Cable included.
DRSZ181 -1: For the ZFL-181-92.$ 249.00
DRSZ181 -2: For the ZFL-181 -93 and ZWL-183-92.$ 249.00
Z-181 External Hard Disk Drive: 20 MB. Hard Disk Drive for the
ZFL-181 -93 mounted in half height, fan cooled enclosure. Interface Cable
included.Call
3V2” Disk Drive Upgrade: For PC’s and Compatibles including all
Z-100 PC and Z-200 PC series computers. Maintain compatibility with the
new PS/2 and Portable software formats and increase storage capacity to
720K per diskette utilizing your existing floppy disk controller. Includes
mounting hardware for SVV’ enclosures. Requires MS-DOS 3.2 or greater
.$ 169.00 j
' AT COMPATIBLE MEMORY UPGRADES ^
All Memory Expansion Cards come with Hardware, Installation Instruc¬
tions, LIM/EMS Software, and a One Year Warranty. Fully populated
boards available from 2 MB. to 16 MB., for systems up to 1 MHz.
2 MB. Memory Expansion Board: Fully populated with 256K
DRAM, expandable to 4 MB. with optional 2 MB. Daughter Board.
MICN2MB-8: Compatible with systems up to 8 MHz ... $ 495.00
MICN2MB-12: Compatible with systems up to 12 MHz $ 595.00
MICN2MB-D: 2 MB. Daughter Board fully populated .. $ 399.00
4 MB. Memory Expansion Board: Fully populated with 256K
DRAM. Requires one slot only!
MICN4MB-8: Compatible with systems up to 8 MHz ... $ 895.00
MiCN4MB-12:Compatible with systems up to 12 MHz . $ 995.00 >
PC COMPATIBLE UPGRADE ACCESSORIES
Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean we don’t carry It. Call Toll Free
for pricing and availability on the accessory of your dreams!
LIM/EMS 2 MB. Memory Card: Fully populated.
One year warranty.$ 395.00
PTZ148X: Premier Technology’s IVa slot daughter board for Z148. Includes
clock/cal, software.$ $129.95
SMARTWATCH: No Slot Clock/Calendar, 10-year lithium battery. Easy plug-in
installation. Includes installation instructions, and software with source code. One
year warranty.$ 44.00
MICROSPEED FAST 88: Speed upgrade for PC’s and Com¬
patibles. Guaranteed to work in your H/Z 150/160 or PC, PC/XT series
computer or your money back! Increases CPU speed up to 7.6 MHz.
Speed is switchable via software or external speed switch module.
Includes Installation Manual, software, and hard ware. One Year
Warranty.
FAST88-1 : No Processor included.$ 125.00
FAST88-2: With Optional 8088-2 8 MHz. Processor .$ 130.00
^ FAST88-3: With Optional NEC V20 8 MHz. Processor__ $ 1 35.00 j
HOLIDAY SPECIAL
NO SURCHARGES
No MasterCard or Visa Surcharges On All Orders Placed During
November and December!
SPECIAL ORDERS
We LOVE a CHALLENGE!
If you have a special need, or if you want a specific hardware or
software product, Calf us Toll Free for a quotation!
Z-100 UPGRADE ACCESSORIES
RAM Technology carries a complete selection of upgrades and
accessories for your Z-100 computer. Call Toll Free for pricing and
availability.
C.D.R. ZS-100: Speed Upgrade for 4.7 MHz. Z-IOO’s. Easily
installed, no soldering required.$ 44.95
FBE RESEARCH ZMF-100A: 768K Memory Upgrade for Z-IOO’s
with old motherboards: #181-4917 or lower; no soldering required
.$ 59.95
UCI EASYRAM: Memory Expansion Board for Z-100 S-100 Buss.
Expands memory up to 2 MB. using 256K DRAM. For systems with
192-768K main memory.
UCI-ER-0: 0 Kb. RAM. $ 335.00
UCI-ER-S: RAMDRIVE Software..$ 43.00
UCI EASY 87: Math Co-Processor Board for Z-100_$ 85.00
Z-MAX 100: 768K Memory Upgrade for new motherboard Z-IOOs;
#181-4918 or greater; simple plug-in installation.$ 59.95
SMARTWATCH: No Slot Clock/Calendar with spacers, 10-year
lithium battery. Easy plug-in installation. Includes installation
instructions, and software with source code. One year
warranty.$ 46.00
20MB. Internal Hard Disk Drive System with CDR Controller
.$ 725.00
w/UCI EASYWIN Controller.$ 025.00
40 MB. Internal Hard Disk Drive System with CDR Controller
w/UCI EASYWIN Controller..$ 025.00
65 MB. Internal Hard Disk Drive System with CDR Controller
. .$ 1075.00
w/UCI EASYWIN Controller.$ 975 .OO
Z-1 DO Hard Disk Drive Controiiers
CDR 317 Controller Kit: Interface and Controller.$ 575.00
CDR317-IIB SCSI Interface Only.$ 335.00
UCI EASYWIN Interface and Controller..$ 399.00
UCI EASYWIN Interface Only. .$ 265.00
NEW PRICES!
NEW PRODUCTS!
SERVICE & SUPPORT!
DYNAMIC RAM MEMORY
Includes Installation Instructions. One Year Warranty. Prices current 9/87 and
subject to Change: call Toll Free for current prices.
Quantity Pricing Avaiiabie on Request.
4164-150 : 64K 150 ns. DRAM .$ 1.65
41256-150: 256K 150 ns. DRAM .$ 3.70
41256-150: 256K 120 ns. DRAM .$ 4.00
^ 412 56-150: 256K 100 ns. DRAM .$ 5.25
PROCESSORS
Intel processors Include Installation Instructions, and a Five Year
Warranty. Prices current 8/1/87 and subject to change; Call Toll Free for
current pricing.
Quantity Prices Avaiiabie On Request.
8088-2 : 8 MHz. Processor.$ 8.95
8087-3 : 5 MHz. Math Co-Processor.$ 119.00
8087-2 : 8 MHz. Math Co-Processor.$ 169.00
8087-1 : 10 MHz. Math Co-Processor.$ 225.00
80287-6 : 6 MHz. Math Co-Processor..$ 195.00
80287-8 : 8 MHz. Math Co-Processor.$ 269.00
80287-10: 10 MHz. Math Co-Processor.$ 325.00
80387-16: 16 MHz. Math Co-Processor.$ 595.00
NEC V20: 8 MHz. 8088 replacement microprocessor. Increases CPU
efficiency 10-30%. Includes Installation Instructions. One Year
Warranty . $ 14.95
V_ J
RAM Technology
427-3 AMHERST STREET. SUITE 265
NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE 03063
1 800 662-0070 • 603 889-0633
HOURS OF OPERATION: Monday-Friday, 9C0 AM. - 5:00 p.m. EST
Circle #129 on Reader Service Card
Sextant November-December 1987 7
H/Z89 High Performance Products
Discover why hundreds of H/Z89^s still outperform PC clones!
_ ^ew Prire^!
10 MB with External Cabinet (65 ms) $795
20 MB with External Cabinet (65 ms) $895
40 MB with External Cabinet (40 ms) $1145
Optional 40 Track Floppy Drive (as shown)$125
Optional 80 Track Floppy Drive $175
Users’ Manual Only (Deductible) $10
''Support is the most important feature.''
17000 Dallas Parkway, Suite #207, Dallas, TX 75248
(214) 380-6187
Call NOW so we can rush our complete
information package to you!
Hard Disk Systems
• Latest Technology 3.5 and 5.25 Inch Drives and Controller
Includes Comprehensive Support Software for CP/M and HDOS
• Fully Compatible with HI7, H37, H47, 4 MHz, CDR, Magnolia, etc.
• Includes 2 Centronics Parallel Printer Ports and Power Supply
6 Month Limited Warranty with 1 Year Warranty on Drive Unit
Fast and Easy to Install
Circle #185 on Reader Service Card
Z-100 UPGRADE ACCESSORIES
(Military Users, Z-100 Products on GSA)
UCI EasyPC, IBM PC Emulator.$489
UCI Easyl/0-2, IBM COM Port Board.$129
UCI EasyWIN, Hard Disk Controller.$245
40MB Kit.$925
60MB Kit.$999
UCI Memory Upgrades
New Motherboard Upgrade.$69
EasyRAM Memory Card
OK to 2MB.$325 - $599
UCI Speed Upgrade Kits
Oid Motherboard.$149
New Motherboard .$155
UCI Easy87,8087 Co-processor Board.$79
FBE ZMFtOOa Old Motherboard Memory Upgrade . $59
FBE Smartwatch with Spacers.$44
PRINTERS
PC SOFTWARE
Lotus 1-2-3 $395
WordPerfect $245
dBaselll + $478
Symphony $558
Paradox $495
Multipian $155
Sidekick $63
Ciipper $495
PFS First Choice $129
Wordstar 2000 $260
Wordstar Professional $299
Microsoft Word $298
Multimate Advantage $306
Questions & Answers $258
Microsoft Windows $80
SEAGATE HARD DISK DRIVES
ST225 20MBwWDControiler.$395
ST238 30MB wWD Controller.$424
ST251 40MB, 40ms Access.$592
ST4038 30MB Full Ht for AT.$595
ST4051 40MB Full Ht for AT.$699
External Hard Disk Chassis.$120
FLOPPY DISK DRIVES
5 1/4 Fujitsu 360K.$98
5 1/4 Fujitsu 1.2 MB.$145
3 1/2 Toshiba 720KW/PC/XT Converter Kit.$165
StarNP-10, lOOcps draft, 25cps NLQ .$199
NEC P6 80 Col, 24 Pin Dot Matrix.$565
P7136 Col, 24 Pin Dot Matrix .$850
9’ Printer Cables.$19
AB Switch Boxes .$33
POWER & SURGE ACCESSORIES
headman 6 Plug Surge Protector.$19
Datashield Power Backup Systems
300 Watt $487 500 Watt $755 800 Watt $855
ADDONICS MEMORY UPGRADE BOARDS
XT Intel/Lotus Spec, OK, Expandable to 2MB ... $210
AT Intel/Lotus Spec, OK, Expandable to 1.5MB, 1 Ser,
1 Parallel, Clock.$279
NETWORKS CHIPS
ViaNet + KAL Aijaptor Card 64K DRAM 1 50ns $1.25 ea.
$395 256K DRAMS 150ns $2.95 ea.
$445 256K DRAMS 120ns $3.15 ea.
$449 V20 8 MHz $14.00 ea.
8087 5 MHZ/8MHZ $125/$165
PC/AT
Z-100
LANIink
Multilink Advanced $549
LIGHTEK
948 Cherry St., Kent, OH 44240
1-800-824-2667 (orders) • (216) 673-5358
Circle #177 on Reader Service Card
Plug a Hard Disk
on a Card
into Your '150
Its the easiest way to add a hard disk to a ’151 or ’158—if you know a few
things they left out of the documentation.
JoAnne Benedict
There comes a time in the life of any
computer when you need to add a hard
disk. I built my dual-floppy Heath T51
two years ago—and soon began to use so
many floppy disks that I couldn’t keep
track of them all.
I didn’t want to sacrifice a floppy drive
for a Winchester, and my desk was too
small for an external hard disk. I needed a
hard disk on a card.
After considering several brands, I de¬
cided on the Plus 20-megabyte Hardcard.
(The suggested retail price is $795, al¬
though I’ve seen it as low as $650.)
Of the brands I considered, the Hard¬
card was the only one that would fit in a
single slot; it had a fast access time (49
milliseconds) and low power consump¬
tion (8 watts). It wasn’t just a conventional
hard disk mounted on a circuit board.
Both the disk drive and the disk con¬
troller circuitry were designed specifi¬
cally for the purpose.
Also, it runs quietly, and has an average
lifespan of 40,000 hours. When the
power is turned off, the head automatical¬
ly parks and locks in a safe landing zone.
However, I had heard that my ’151
might need a new read-only memory
(ROM) chip to boot from the hard disk.
So, I called Plus Development to make
sure the Hardcard would work in a
Heath/Zenith 151. Yes, I was assured, my
computer was on the approved list. The
’151 would be able to boot the Microsoft
Disk Operating System (MS-DOS) from
the Hardcard without any modifica¬
tions—but I would probably have to do a
“manual install.”
That sounded like a nuisance, but I was
sure the software or documentation
Formerly an IBM programmer, JoAnne
Benedict is now a professional writer.
Her articles have appeared in Byte,
Microcomputing, and Business Age.
would walk me through the procedure.
Without asking what a “manual install”
was, I promptly ordered a Hardcard.
Easy installation
When my Hardcard arrived, the direc¬
tions were very clear on physically install¬
ing it in the computer. I simply removed
the cover, carefully fitted the Hardcard
Everything seemed to
work fine. 1 had a
perfectly good hard
disk—but it wasnt
bootable.
into an empty slot, and placed the cover
back on.
If you already have an internal hard
disk in your computer, the Hardcard can
be configured as the second hard disk,
drive D:, by changing the position of a
jumper on the Hardcard.
A snag
The hard disk came already formatted
for MS-DOS and contained the Plus De¬
velopment support software. There was
no mention of a manual installation
procedure in the documentation; so, I
simply followed the directions that were
there. I put an MS-DOS system disk into
drive A: and a blank diskette (used to back
up the programs on the Hardcard) into
drive B:. Then I typed in CilNSTALLC, and
waited for some message to tell me how to
do a manual install.
The installation batch file copied the
hard-disk files to the backup diskette in
B:, and wiped the hard disk clean of files.
During the installation process, the batch
file also looked for an IBM-specific file.
Not finding it, the batch file aborted and
ended with the message, “The Hardcard
in your system has not been installed.”
It then told me to follow the in¬
structions in my Hardcard reference
manual and run Hardcard’s automatic in¬
stallation procedure. The only problem
was that I /ladTollowed the instructions.
There was no information on doing a
manual install, either in the reference
manual or on the disk.
For the next two hours, I tried various
commands with the Hardcard. I created a
couple of subdirectories using MS-DOS’s
standard MKDIR command. I copied a few
files to those directories. I also set up the
Hardcard’s menu utility, HCD.
Everything seemed to work fine. I had
a perfectly good hard disk—but it wasn’t
bootable. How should I transfer the oper¬
ating system to it? I could have used
MS-DOS’s standard FORMAT/S, but, fortu¬
nately, I took the time to further check
the Hardcard manual instead.
The ""manual instalF’
After about two hours of reading the
documentation and playing with the sys¬
tem, the light finally dawned. If I had had
a stock IBM Personal Computer, the in¬
stallation would have been totally auto¬
matic. It would have erased the Hardcard
files and backed them up on a floppy.
Then it would have looked for my operat¬
ing-system disk, and reformatted the
hard disk to make it bootable. It would
also have set up a number of subdirecto¬
ries. (The automatic installation creates
directories named SUBl, SUB2, etc.) And it
would have transferred my operating-
system utilities to the root directory.
Well, on my 151, the automatic instal¬
lation had gone as far as cleaning the hard
disk and backing up the files it removed. I
had to do the rest, which was mainly a
Sextant November-December 1987 9
TurboGeometry Librorg /
The added plus you need for developing
sophisticated computer graphics, CAD,
and programs that use computational
geometry. This library will save you
time, money and gives you flexiblity.
A Paul Scheibe
Product
TurboGeometr
Library
An excellent addition to Borland's
Turbo Graphix Toolbox. If you are
progranuning geometric routines
TurboGeometry Library is the toolbox
you need. Over 150 ready to use
geometric routines. These algorithms
range from low to high level in
complexity. Such as • Equations of
lines, circles, arcs & planes
• Intersection of lines, circles, polygons • Curve generation • Location of points in
space • 2 & 3 dimensional transforms • Polygon decomposition • Perspectives •
Hidden line removal, and many more. Manual, full source code and sample programs.
Requires: Turbo Pascal 2.0+, IBM PC (100% Comp), Zenith ZlOO MS/PC DOS
2.0+ . All for just $99.95 US. Add $5.00 for SH. Texas residents add 71/4% Sales
Tax. ORDER TODAY! MC, Visa, MO, Check. (214) 423-7288 .
Disk Software, Inc. 2116 E. Arapaho Rd., Suite 487, Richardson, Texas 75081
Turbo Pascal/Graphix Toolbox are TM of Borland Lit., MS DOS is a TM of
Microsoft
Circle #158 on Reader Service Card
ARE YOUR PERSONAL COMPUTERS
ON SPEAKING TERMS?
Connect them with a Novell Local Area Network.
Novell sets the standard for
high performance LANs with
four complete LAN systems.
Each one offers the reliability,
security, and DOS compati¬
bility of Novell’s NetWare"
operating system.
Zeducorp offers the full
Novell product line. Let us
network your Zenith (or com¬
patible) personal computers
with the Novell Solution!
ZEDUCORP P.0.B0X68
NOVELL
STIRUNG, NEW JERSEY 07980 ( 201 ) 755-2262
Your Authorized Novell Dealer.
NetWare is a trademark of Novell, Inc.
Circle #236 on Reader Service Card
matter of copying files.
To do the job of MS-DOS’s format
utility, the Hardcard package gives you
the HFORMAT utility. The manual warns
you not to use FORMAT because it will
reduce the Hardcard’s performance. Us¬
ing HFORMAT allows a higher interleave
factor and an extra sector per track.
So, I used HFORMAT to put the MS-
DOS system on the hard disk. Then I
copied my MS-DOS utilities to the root
directory. My next step was to create the
subdirectories I wanted, and copy what¬
ever files I wished to each directory. As a
final step, I set up the HCD menu utility
for the applications I wanted.
It wasn’t hard to do a manual install,
but why couldn’t Plus Development doc¬
ument the procedure in the manual!
Afterward, I found out that Plus Devel¬
opment does have instructions for install¬
ing the Hardcard on a 150 or a 158. But
you have to know to ask the company to
send them.
It works well
My Hardcard has worked very well. I
found only two bad sectors, and wrote
It wasn’t hard
to do the manual
installation, but why
wasn’t the procedure
documented?
two dummy files onto those sectors. (Un¬
fortunately, the Hardcard doesn’t seem to
include any utility to lock out such
sectors.)
To tell you when the disk is being
accessed, the Hardcard displays a plus
sign in the upper right-hand corner of the
screen. Some programs, however, may
take over the entire screen, leaving you
with no way to tell that the hard disk is
being accessed. So, the support software
includes a utility to let you change the
plus sign to sound; then there’ll be a faint
beep when the hard disk is in use.
My 151 is set for autoboot; when I turn
it on, it looks first for a disk in the A: drive,
but after 18 seconds, I see the plus sign
on the screen and it boots from the
Hardcard.
Aside from the small omission in the
documentation concerning the manual
install, I am pleased with the Hardcard.
Additional Information
Plus Hardcard, 20 MB, $795; 40 MB,
$1,195.
Sold through retail dealers
Plus Development Corporation
1778 McCarthy Boulevard
Milpitas, CA 95035-7421
408/434-6900 A
10 Sextant November-December 1987
All fired up!
Software Wizardry brings an incredible performance
improvementtotheZ-151/161 -WILDFIRE! It will spur
your Z-151/161 to run faster than the 8mHz Z-158 and
outdoes the 80286 processor chip for compatibility
with F*C’s.
The heart of Wildfire is a daughter board that
mounts on your processor board, saddled between it
and the video board. Several higher-speed chips are
included to replace socketed chips on your processor
board. A high speed/low speed switch that mounts on
your machine’s front panel allows you to trot at normal
speed, or break into a real gallop when you really want
to ride!
Software Wizardry brings you Wildfire, complete
with front panel, installation instructions, and reliable
daughter board design. And for a limited time, it has a
special price of $ 195. You can try Wildfire with a 15-day
guarantee. If not satisfied, return it within 15 days for a
full refund.
Contact your local dealer, or order direct from
Software Wizardry by calling (314) 447-7337. Dealer
inquiries are invited.
8 Cherokee Drive
St. Peters, Missouri 63376
(314) 447-7337
Circle #204 on Reader Service Card
Smooth Sailing With
a '240
A Z241 aboard a 35-foot sailboat assists with the navigation and financing of a
world cruise of indefinite length.
David W. Zimmerly
Many people, especially males nearing
middle age, dream of sailing away into the
sunset. I was no exception, and, in my
downtown Ottawa driveway, reacted to
my own mid-life crisis by building a 33-
foot wooden sailboat with Chinese junk
sails. In 1982 and ’83, my wife Helga and I
sailed Arluk to the Bahamas and back by
way of the Inland Waterway.
Before we sailed, I had quit my job as
Arctic Anthropologist for the National
Museums of Canada. When we returned
to Ottawa, the microcomputer revolution
was just picking up steam. It looked excit¬
ing, I needed to earn a living, and I
wanted in.
For several weeks, I researched all
available microcomputers and finally set¬
tled on a ZIOO. For one year I immersed
myself in dBASE II, WordStar, Multiplan,
FORTRAN, BASIC, C, games, communi¬
cations programs—you name it, and I
tried it. We had active Heath Users’
Group meetings in Ottawa, and I never
missed one.
I was not entirely new to computers.
During the early 1960s, I was a main¬
frame scientific programmer/analyst for
Sylvania and IBM. As an anthropologist
in the late 1960s and ’70s, I continued to
use computers to process research data.
In 1984, the time was ripe to set myself
up as a consultant.
Several small jobs worked into a bigger
one. The result was a one-year contract to
develop a data base management system
(DBMS) for a government collection of
Inuit prints and sculptures. (Inuit is the
proper name for the Eskimos.) It was a
dream contract—I was able to do every¬
thing, from designing the system to writ¬
ing the user manual.
When Helga and I returned from our
Bahamas trip, we decided that within five
years we would buy or build a larger.
David W. Zimmerly is a computer
consultant in the fields of Arctic
anthropology, artifact appraisals, and
museum collections management.
world-class sailboat and leave for a world
cruise of indefinite length. A boat that
matched all our requirements came on
the market less than a year after our
return to Ottawa. We bit the bullet,
remortgaged the house, and bought the
boat.
Now it was all starting to come togeth¬
er. We were both working, but could live
off Helga’s income alone. My income en¬
abled us to outfit the boat and save money
No longer is it
necessary to carry
many heavy books of
navigational data.
for a cruising kitty. But neither one of us
is independently wealthy. We needed
some means to replenish our funds as we
cruised.
Helga is an art historian, and has sec¬
ondary-school teaching credentials and a
number of published articles to her
credit. I, too, have some published
articles, mostly about Eskimos and
kayaks; but more important, I thought
that my computer skills were portable. It
was at this point that I dreamed of having
a floating computer-consulting business.
During this year of preparing to sail,
we upgraded our computer hardware.
Helga purchased her own Macintosh
Plus, and I got a Z24I AT compatible. The
thought of trying to write without our
favorite word processors was more than
we could bear; so, both computers would
have to go with us.
Finally, in June 1986, we sold our
house in Ottawa, left our jobs, friends,
and relatives, and boarded our 35-foot
sailboat Erasmus. Our destination was
Cape Dorset, a small Canadian Eskimo
community on Baffin Island, Northwest
Territories. (See Figure 1.)
Boat configuration
Erasmus is a Kingston 35. She is all¬
aluminum, with a pilothouse and full
keel. The keel extends 5 feet below the
surface of the water. Three sails—a main,
jih, and stay-sail—give us a speed of 5 to
7 knots. We also have a Volvo Penta
MDllC—a two-cylinder, marine diesel
engine, whose 24 horsepower can move
us along in a calm at 6 knots.
We carry enough fuel to motor 700
miles. Water is carried in two 45-gallon
tanks. We cook with propane, heat with a
diesel furnace, and light the boat and run
electronics with two 12-volt, deep-cycle
batteries. (Sometimes called a “golf-cart”
battery, this type can take a deep dis¬
charge without being damaged.) For find¬
ing our way, we have radar (with a range
of 12 miles), plus satellite navigation,
VHF radio, and two sextants.
In a pinch we can sleep six, but prefer
no more than four.
Computer configuration
My Z24I has 640 kilobytes of memory,
a 360K floppy, a 1.2-megabyte floppy, a
40-MB Seagate ST405I hard disk, a
Microsoft Mouse, a US Robotics 300/
1200-baud internal modem, I MB of ex¬
tended memory (the Z405 board), an
80287 numeric co-processor, and a Genoa
Spectrum video board. The monitor is a
Zenith amber ZVM-I240. I print on an
Epson FX-85, and plot on a Roland DXY-
880.
The space reserved for the Z24I is only
30" wide. The computer itself is bolted
vertically to a bulkhead. (See Photos I
and 2.) The printer is on a stand that holds
paper inside. Printer and stand are
strapped down on the table with the key¬
board in front.
On the front of the table, a raised lip
(called a fiddle in nautical terminology)
prevents the keyboard from sliding off
when the boat heels. The monitor on a
swivel stand has its own shelf. It, too, is
bolted down to prevent any movement.
For the Macintosh, Helga has to make
12 Sextant November-December 1987
Lawrence River, and around the coast of Labrador. Their destination was Cape
Dorset, a town of about 900 people, on Baffin Island, in Canada’s Northwest
Territories. (Satellite map projection generated using software and data provided
as part of the Micro World Data Bank II files. The view is from a height of 202
nautical miles over a point at 60° north latitude and 75° west longitude.)
do with a padded case stored under the
navigation table.
Energy configuration
Supplying power to run all this equip¬
ment was a major problem. When we are
at a dock, it is no problem to have 110
volts run into the boat; but at anchor, this
is not possible. There is also a problem in
remote places where good, clean power is
not available. Another question was what
to do in countries where the local power is
220 volts and 50 hertz.
Our solution was to always run the
computer from the ship’s batteries. That
way, any local surges, either from land or
from our own diesel, would be smoothed
out. We connected the computer to a
1,000-watt, Tripp Lite PV-IOOOFC,
frequency-controlled, DC-AC inverter.
The inverter is connected to the ship’s
deep-cycle batteries, which provide a
total storage capacity of around 200 amp-
hours.
We have four different methods of
keeping power in the batteries:
1. When the engine is running, it turns
a 55-amp alternator that charges the bat¬
teries.
2. A wind generator on a pole on the
stern is connected to the batteries. On
days with average winds of 18 knots, it can
generate about 100 amp-hours per day.
3. When we plug in at a dock offering 110
or 220 volts, we use a Ray Jefferson Model
3030 30-amp battery charger that will
accept either 110 or 220 volts input.
4. Finally, for use in a remote anchorage
with no wind and no dock power, we have
a Honda EX 650 generator. It is relatively
quiet, and produces power clean enough
to plug in the computer directly.
An unfortunate incident, however, per¬
suaded me to use the generator only to
supply power to the battery charger. One
afternoon, 1 was powering the computer
directly from the generator. Nearing
completion of a rather lengthy writing
project, I was about to save what I had
done in the last half-hour, when the
Honda generator (four hours per two-liter
fill) suddenly ran out of gas, and 1 lost all
my data.
Although there is much energy loft in
converting from the 110 volts of the
Honda to the 12 volts in the battery, back
to 110 in the inverter and then back to
DC in the computer, this method seems
to be the safest way to prevent data losses.
Boat-related computer uses
Our on-board computer capability is
greater than that of any yacht that raced in
the America’s Cup in Australia. What do
we do with all that computer power and
storage capacity?
There are two major uses: boat-related
computing, and lifestyle-support com¬
puting.
Many of our boat-related computer
uses are still under development as we
refine our needs for world cruising. The
boat applications require the use of a
DBMS and a sophisticated word proces¬
sor. We use dBASE 111 Plus for our DBMS,
and Clipper to produce compiled ver¬
sions of our dBASE routines. For word
processing, we have progressed from
WordStar to Microsoft Word to XyWrite
111 .
When cruising, we need to solve a
number of piloting and navigational
problems. These may include computing
times of sunrise and sunset, having relia¬
ble tide predictions, and computing dis¬
tance from one point to another, given
latitude and longitude.
We also need to calculate what compass
course to steer when there are cross
currents. And, to determine literally
where in the world we are, we have to
reduce our sextant sightings to longitude
and latitude and points on a map.
No longer is it necessary to carry many
heavy books of navigational data. These
tables can easily be computed as needed
on the Z241. Even the nautical almanac is
now available on a floppy disk from the
U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington,
D.C. A program recently advertised in
Cruising World magazine computes tide
tables for the entire east and west coasts
of the U.S., plus Alaska.
dBASE III is sophisticated enough to
handle even heavy-duty trigonometric
calculations. And with the addition of the
Clipper compiler, its programs are no
longer so agonizingly slow.
I also use the newly released UI Pro¬
grammer, which generates terrific dBASE
screens; pop-up menus; and pop-up, con¬
text-sensitive help boxes, as well as basic
file-maintenance programs. The combi¬
nation is an excellent systems developer’s
environment.
The integrated dBASE Ill-based Boat
Cruising package that we are developing
for ourselves includes files that can gener¬
ate a crew list, a spares list, an equipment
list, a chart list, recipes, a bibliography, a
suppliers list, and a mailing list.
The package will also handle all our
piloting and navigational needs, integrat¬
ing tide tables and nautical almanac infor¬
mation.
For our word processing needs, one of
the nice features of XyWrite III is that it
has a built-in command language; it is
possible to write files of these commands
to do any number of jobs. In effect, you
are writing a program. With some word
processing programs, this is called a
“macro command file” or a “file macro.”
Last summer, our major boat-related
use of the Z24I was for keeping a daily
log. (Figure 2 shows a typical log entry.)
Sextant November-December 1987 13
Photo courtesy of the author
Photo 1. The
computer center
onboard Erasmus
measures just 30"
wide hy 35" deep.
It is located
amidships, across
from the owners’
berth. The Z241 is
bolted upright on
the bulkhead at the
right; the mouse
and printer are on
the shelf above.
The top shelf holds
the ZVM-1240
monitor.
Using XyWrite III allowed us to auto¬
matically write the blank log headings
and then read in the previous day’s
entries for latitude and longitude of des¬
tination, odometer-log reading, and fuel-
hour meter reading. (Yesterday’s “End ”
reading is today’s “Start” reading.) The
computer made log-keeping fun, and I
looked forward to the end of each day,
when I could switch on the computer and
write my entry.
One of our initial worries about having
the computer on board was that it would
be attacked by salt-air corrosion and quit
functioning within no time.
That was not the case—maybe for two
reasons. One is that running the comput¬
er every day probably generated enough
internal heat to dry out any components
that might have accumulated moisture.
The other reason is that it was often
cold enough at night to run our Espar
DSL hot-air diesel heater, which circulat¬
ed dry, warm air throughout the boat. No
computer or mildew problems ever oc¬
curred.
Despite our success using the com¬
puter for navigation and record-keeping,
however, we also maintain more tradi¬
tional equipment and skills. A wise sailor
always has backup capabilities for any
critical system on board.
Lifestyle-support computer uses
We arrived in Cape Dorset on Septem¬
ber 13th. Our cruise took us 2,900 miles
from Ottawa, out the St. Lawrence River,
up the coast of Labrador, and across
Hudson Strait to Baffin Island.
Helga and I were both tired from
travelling continuously for 80 days, and
we relished the idea of sitting still while at
anchor in Cape Dorset Harbor. Since we
were not using the diesel engine, I
switched to the Honda generator to sup¬
ply our electrical needs.
During the voyage to Cape Dorset, I
had neither the time, nor the energy, nor
the electrical power for much computing.
But now I was ready to work on all the
development projects I dreamed of dur¬
ing those long hours at the wheel. While I
sat on the boat computing, Helga went
ashore and looked for a job.
By the end of the first week, Helga had
landed a full-time position with the gov¬
ernment of the Northwest Territories,
teaching problem eighth-grade students.
With the job came a house with unlimit¬
ed heat and electricity, as well as twice-
weekly deliveries of 500 liters of water
and daily pickup of the “honey bucket.”
In early October, we had Erasmus
dragged up onto the beach and set up¬
right for the winter. The boat was brought
close to shore at high tide. (There’s a
25-foot tide.) At low tide, the boat was
laid on its side atop a tractor tire on a
sheet of steel; it was then dragged up the
beach past the high-water mark using two
front-end loaders. Two more front-end
14 Sextant November-December 1987
I use MS-DOS and I want The FlipFast
Guide to Zenith MS-DOS\
-I— ^2.50 shipping and
handluigper order m the U.S./Canada, and $4.00 per book overseas).
^ US Ek)"* ** enclosed (checks must be in U.S. dollars, payable on a
_MasterCard
--- Expires_
□ Charge my _Visa
Card #
Name __
Address
Sextant Publishing Company, Dept. S31, 716 E Street S.E., Washington. DC 20003
/ use GW-BASIC! Send me The FlipFast
Guide to Zenith GW-BASIC/
LS- copings @ $21.95 each (please add $2.50 shipping and
handling per order in the U.S./Canada, and $4.00 per book overseas).
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The Guide to Zenith MS-DOS
The following features are among those provided in
this new guide to Zenith MS-DOS:
Names of all commands or subcommands
iiii^ Syntax with available options
iii#^ Applications concisely explaining typical
command usage
ii4> Examples with “real-world” explanations
11 #^ Requirements for general usage that minimize
system errors and speed computer operations
iii#^ Application notes provide specific information
about command functions, including quirks and tips
iiii^ Error messages are explained for each command
You’ll also find the following sections in this book:
iiii^ How to use MS-DOS
iii#^ How to use command piping & trees
iiui^ Complete batch file & hard-disk reference
Programmer’s command reference
11 #^ DOS technical reference
11 #^ Config file reference, glossary, and more!
Fill out and return this card to order your
copy today!
The FlipFast Guide
to Zenith MS-DOS
544 pages
$24.95
Published in August 1987
The FlipFast Guide
to Zenith GW-BAS 1C
408 pages
$21.95
Published in August 1987
GW-BASIC Users, Here’s a New
Reference Book Just For You!
This time-saving guide quickly explains how to use
GW-BASIC on Zenith systems by providing;
★ Names of commands, statements, and functions
★ Syntax with available options
★ Command usage with concise explanations
★ Examples with “real-world” explanations
★ Requirements for general usage that minimize
programming errors and simplify debugging
★ Application notes that provide specific
information about command function
★ Hints, tips, and bugs that can save you hours of
programming time
★ Error messages listed and explained for every
command, where applicable
You get all this plus the following;
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★ Complete reference appendix
If you use GW-BASIC, fill out and return this card
today to order your copy!
30 August 1986 Saturday
From: Clark Harbour, Labrador
L60* 14.3* N, Lo64* 23.0* W
To:Klllinek. N.W.T.
L60* 25.2* N, Lo64* 5L0’W
TIME - Departure:
1110
TIME - Arrival:
1430
TIME - Daily Hours:
3.33
L06 Reading - Start:
2375.07
L06 Reading - End:
2393.93
L06 - Daily Run:
18.86
FUEL Hour Meter - Start:
386.3
FUEL Hour Meter - End:
393.0
FUEL - Daily Hours:
6.7
AVERAGE SPEED:
5.7
NARRATIVE:
Last night was simply awful. We were both
scared that we might drag and 1 stayed up until after 0300 on anchor watch.
The wind shifted slightly towards the south from west and we started getting
swells that made us roll like pigs
. It was probably the most uncomfortable
night we have ever spent at anchor on ERASMUS. About 0300 some stars
came out and the moon appeared.
All the time the barometer was moving
Figure 2. A typical daily log entry for the sailboat Erasmus, The XyWrite III
word processing program automatically enters all headings and some numerical
entries; the author wrote a small file of XyWrite commands to perform this task.
loaders set the boat upright, and sections
of telephone poles were wedged under
the hull to keep it upright. A nine-dog
Eskimo team kept nearby provided secu¬
rity for the boat.
Now it was time for me to find a way to
earn some income.
I started by writing magazine articles.
But with milk at $3.95 a liter and bread at
$2.75 a loaf, article writing becomes sup¬
plementary income only. Although Cape
Dorset has a population of only 900, a
number of opportunities for computer
work were present.
First, I was awarded a contract to do
some maintenance and enhancements to
the system I had completed in Ottawa the
year before. I bought Microstuf s REMOTE
communications program, and had it in¬
stalled on the computer in Ottawa. Now,
using Procomm on the Z241, I am able to
call Ottawa via satellite and operate the
system as though I were sitting at the
keyboard there.
What makes REMOTE different from
most communications packages is its abil¬
ity to let me run even many “ill-behaved”
programs (ones that circumvent the oper¬
ating system and write to the screen
directly through hardware). On com¬
mand, REMOTE will take a snapshot of the
screen and send it out the serial port.
Even at 1200 baud, this makes for slow
screen painting. But it does work!
Next, I landed a contract to teach the
town’s recreation director how to do
monthly and yearly budgeting using
Lotus 1-2-3. On the Macintosh, we de¬
signed and printed raffle tickets for a
snowmobile, both in Eskimo syllabics
and in English.
This led to other people in town be¬
coming interested in computers. I signed
up with Arctic College, based in Fro¬
bisher Bay, to teach an Introduction to
Computers course. Twenty-two students
immediately signed up.
Some of the students were from the
West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative, known
worldwide as the major source of fine
Eskimo sculptures and prints. They were
in the market to computerize their busi¬
ness, and they saw that the cost of the
computer and my consulting could be
amortized in just one year.
I contracted with them to install an
AT-compatible system, to design and
develop a dBASE III turnkey system, and
to train their staff to use and maintain it.
To add some variety to my consulting
work, I also taught grades 6, 7, 8, and 10
as a substitute, took an occasional day
shift as guard in the local Mounted Police
lockup, and acted as local agent and main¬
tenance person for Tele Sat Canada, the
folks who bring us radio, TV, and phone
service.
Basic fees for consulting vary from $25
to $50 per hour. However, it can be ex¬
pensive to keep up-to-date. For example,
when I want to access my favorite special-
interest groups (DBFSIG, ATSIG, and
the Clipper SIC) on The Source, I pay
long-distance charges to Montreal ($0.22
to $0.66 per minute), plus Source and SIC
charges.
Now, if only I could find time to
complete development of my cruising
package. . . .
When the ice melts
Helga and I are now so firmly en¬
trenched in the personal-computer revo¬
lution that there is no going back to life
BC (before computers). We are wonder¬
ing how we will finance the next genera¬
tion of personal computers, but to every
such problem there is always a solution.
Our next project is to equip Erasmus
with a high-frequency, single-sideband
(SSB) marine radio and automatic tuner
(Icom M-700 and AT-120), connected to a
packet-radio controller (such as the Heath
HD-4040 Terminal Node Controller or
the Advanced Electronic PK-232 Multi-
mode Data Controller).
This setup will give us access to packet-
radio networks, and we will also be able
to decode weather, news, and other
transmissions in Morse, Baudot, and
ASCII code. The data can then be written
to the computer’s auxiliary storage for
later printing or reading. We will also
have weather-fax capability, so that
weather charts can be dumped to our
Epson printer.
It’s now June here in Cape Dorset;
after the ice departs Hudson Strait this
July, we will again set sail for distant
ports. We’ll have our trusty computers on
board, as well as our cat Lukassie, 100
pounds of rice, several cases of Japanese
noodles, and enough cans of chili peppers
to have our favorite Chile Bellenos at least
once a week while we head for the canals
of France via Greenland, Scotland,
England. . . .
Additional Information
Procomm, shareware, $10 for trial
copy; $50 with manual.
DataStorm Technologies, Inc.
PO. Box 1471
Columbia, MO 65205
314/449-7012; BBS: 3I4/449-940I
dBASE III Plus, model #AT-5063-5,
$695.
HD-4040 Terminal Node Controller,
$199.95.
H/Z24I, no longer available.
H/Z248, assembled, $3,699; kit,
$2,249.
Heath Company
Benton Harbor, MI 49022
Orders: 800/253-0570; in Michigan and
Alaska, 6I6/982-34II
Micro World Data Bank II, $10.
Micro Doc
3108 Jackson Streeet
Bellevue, NE 68005
402/291-0795 7 to 10 p.m. Central time
Clipper, $695.
Nantucket Corporation
12555 W. Jefferson Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90066
213/390-7923
XyWrite III, $395; demo disk, $7.
XyQuest, Inc.
3 Loomis Street
Bedford, MA 01730
617/275-4439 A
Sextant November-December 1987 15
Z100 Notebook
William N. Locke
Networking with the
KALIOOO and ViaNet
HyperAccess: a
communications workhorse
UCIs EasyWIN
EasyRAM
The VI Video Enhancement
Kit
As I write this, summer is well in¬
stalled. The Chesapeake Bay thunder¬
storms are once again proving their rule
over the evening—making computing a
challenge after working hours. At the first
sign of lightning, no matter what Tm
working on, I shut down all computers
and turn to reading books.
I suppose one could argue that a good
mix of thunderstorm and nonthunder¬
storm nights provides readers with a
richer “ZlOO Notebook.” I will have had
more time to read the manuals and to find
out what’s going on.
I once talked with somebody who
claimed to have had a computer fried by a
lightning strike. I don’t wish to doubt the
story. However, I have a cheap and cer¬
tain lightning filter. Rather than costing
several hundred dollars, as so many of
them do, mine is free.
I unplug the computer when it’s not in
use.
This issue in the “ZlOO Notebook,” I’ll
look at some important products for the
ZlOO.
Networking with the KALIOOO and
ViaNet
We’ve all been hearing about local area
networks (LANs) for some time now. I
think most folks would have this to say
about networking: You need to have a lot
of money; you have to have a lot of techni¬
cal experience; and networks are useful
only in businesses where communication
between offices is hindered because peo¬
ple don’t want to carry a piece of paper
down the hall.
Well, I recently had the opportunity to
play with a network system, and my expe¬
rience wasn’t like that at all.
A small network is not particularly ex¬
pensive for a small business or the like. I
plugged the whole thing together without
having one bit of training. And the useful¬
ness of the system is by no means limited
to computer mail.
The network I put together consisted
of just two ZlOOs, so I was able to see how
it might work in a small office. In this
section, I hope I can give you some of the
confidence that would allow you to put
together a LAN without shelling out
thousands of dollars for consulting.
How much money?
I obtained my KALIOOO LAN system
from SoftNet Communications of Great
Neck, New York. This network is fully
capable of connecting ZlOOs and IBM
compatibles in a system of independent
nodes. The boards involved cost $445 for
the ZlOO, and $395 for the IBM compati¬
bles. (For large numbers of boards, the
per-copy cost is less.) Those prices in¬
clude the software required to make the
LAN work. To get the price of the total
system of networking computers, simply
add this amount to the price of each
computer.
The KALIOOO system can connect as
many as 255 computers. (I like the ZlOO,
but that may be a few more than my
family would abide.)
How much experience?
The folks at SoftNet asked me to call
them as soon as I ran into trouble. But, as
I indicated above, no real understanding
of LANs is required to put this network
together. The instructions were ade¬
quate, and I had the system up and run¬
ning in about 20 minutes.
The ZlOO version of the network hard¬
ware is an SlOO board that plugs into any
of the slots in the machine. A connector
needs to be installed in the J17 position in
the rear of the ZlOO, and a small wire
runs to a plug on the KALIOOO network
board.
For nodes (machines) that will not be at
the end of the network, a plug-type
jumper on the board is removed; these
nodes are connected to T-connector
junctions along the cable.
Finally, a node number is selected by a
set of eight switches, also on the SlOO
board.
The computers in the network can be
hooked together using BNC connectors
and as much as 1,200 feet of standard
RG-58/U coaxial cable. The documenta¬
tion states that a maximum separation
distance of 4,000 feet can be achieved
using RG-8 cable. (I used RG-58/U cable,
and the separation was only about five
feet. My shop is not a quarter of a mile
long.)
The IBM-compatible version of the
network hardware is similar to that for
the 100, except that it plugs into a
standard IBM-PG expansion slot, and the
BNG cable connector attaches directly to
the board. I prefer the chassis mounting
on the ZlOO. If somebody were to yank
one of the cables, I would rather not have
the resulting force placed directly on the
computer cards.
SoftNet has done a particularly good
job of making it easy to install the
software for the net. The company
provides an installation program and a
new CONFIG.SYS file for the boot disk (or
the boot partition on a hard disk).
The installation program states that the
networking system assumes that your
computers will be running at 5 mega-
16 Sextant November-December 1987
,tiace
HONEYWELL USERS
Connect Your Z-100 Series Or Z-100 PC Series
Computer To Honeywell Host Systems
The ultimate micro-to-mainframe link
PC77/78 — Emulates the Honeywell VIP7700/VIP7800
series of synchronous terminals
Features:
• color attribute mapping • hot key to DOS • access host via mul¬
tiple windows •print redirection • script processing • help facility
• print spooling
File Transfer:
• menu driven • macro capability to bypass menus • data compres¬
sion • file identification security features • attended and unat¬
tended mode of operation • restart capability • help facility
PC73/78 — Emulates the Honeywell VIP7200/V1P7300/
VIP7800 series of asynchronous terminals
Features:
• color attribute mapping • hot key to DOS • print redirection •
script processing • help facility • print spooling
File Transfer:
• Kermit • Xmodem • ASCII • menu driven • macro capability to by¬
pass menus • attended and unattended mode of operation
The personal computer can be connected to any Honeywell host via a modem, modem-by-
pass or multiple interface unit (MIU) and may reside on a communications line with other
PC’s or terminals. No host system or application software modification, regardless of the
operating system is required.
High-performance communications software from:
Cambridge Computer Corporation
203/288-6004, Telex 6502236599
Honeywell is a trademark of Honeywell, Inc.
Circle #197 on Reader Service Card
hertz; but you can also install it for 8-
MHz operation. The network has been
tested by SoftNet in IBM clones running
at up to 12 MHz.
The supplied CONFIG. SYS file contains a
statement
DEVICE = NETSYS\NETDRVR.SYS
to install the device driver for the net¬
work, getting the driver from the NETSYS
subdirectory.
The next level of software, KA_
DRVR.EXE, is run during installation. This
program provides the interface with the
ViaNet software described below. To con¬
figure the software to the machine (ZlOO,
IBM-PC compatible, or PC-AT compati¬
ble), you can specify several parameters
on the command line that invokes KA-
DRVR. The installation batch file provided
by SoftNet provides appropriate values
for each type of machine.
The answer to the question, “How
much experience?” is none. I was barely
aware of what a local area network could
do when I was plugging in the boards and
following the SoftNet instructions. But
no smoke came out of my computers, and
the system worked.
What do I do with a network?
I have two ZlOOs. One has a hard drive
and a floppy disk; the other has two floppy
disks. Each machine has 768K of memo¬
ry. With a local area network system,
each computer has three floppy drives,
one hard disk, and two RAM drives of
whatever size I choose (up to about
500K).
For most applications, I have been us¬
ing the computer with the hard drive as
the main computer; the other sits off to
the side as the auxiliary machine. I partic¬
ularly enjoy using the auxiliary machine
for working on an article on the hard disk
at the same time the hard-drive machine
is compiling a long program.
In short, a local area network using the
ViaNet software “combines” two or more
computers. Each computer is fully capa¬
ble of acting as a stand-alone machine. All
disk drives, printers, and other devices
on the net are available to all computers.
An important difference exists
between this system and a file-server-
type network. In the latter, one computer
is singled out as the central system, and
the other terminals are subservient to it.
With ViaNet, all computers are equal.
I would recommend a local area net¬
work for any organization needing many
terminals to do a job. If several people
need to update a single large data base of
names of people in an organization, for
instance, or if a group of terminals are
required to look at automobile parts data,
for example, or if many people are doing
word processing, then a LAN will do the
job. This is the modern answer to yester¬
day’s central, many-terminal, mainframe
computer system.
The ViaNet network software (from
ViaNetix, Inc., of Boulder, Colorado) is
the real strength of this system. It
manages each computer’s assets to do
several things at what would appear to be
the same time. In reality, each ZlOO or
IBM-PC clone on the net has only one
8088 running at 5, 8, or 4.77 MHz. That
means that the software needs to handle
scheduling and switching between events
that are demanded on the one hand by
the program running in the local comput¬
er, and on the other by instructions that
arrive via the network hardware.
This is an example of multi-program¬
ming on a small scale, but similar to what
one would find in a large, multi-tasking,
multi-user, mainframe computer system.
Using the ViaNet system
When installed, the ViaNet software
consumes over lOOK of memory; so a
ZlOO with 768K or an IBM clone with
640K of memory is recommended.
With the net software installed, the
computer appears to have a new drive,
drive Z:. A directory of this drive, howev¬
er, will contain no files or subdirectories,
but rather a list of all the active nodes
(machines) on the network. These nodes
may be listed as NodeOI, Node02,
NodeOS, etc. Or they may be given
names by the users, such as Bill, Jeanne,
Records, etc.
These nodes are treated as if they were
subdirectories on drive Z:. But just as a
directory of drive Z: does not produce a
list of files, neither does a directory of a
node. Instead, it produces a list of the
active devices available at the node.
Say, for example, that a network con¬
tains a node, NodeOI, with two floppy
drives, a console, and a printer. The di¬
rectory of that node would be: A, B, CON,
and PRN.
The change-directory command, CD,
may be used to move down to the node
level, allowing the user to do a directory
With a few ZlOOs,
’150s, or ’240s, the
KALIOOO network
system will likely
do fine.
of any of the individual drives in a node.
After you enter CD, it’s simply DIR A: or
DIR B:. Here, the A: and B: drives are
treated as subdirectories of NodeOI.
This entire structure is an extension of
the Microsoft Disk Operating System
(MS-DOS), which makes the network
easy to learn if the user is familiar with
the operating system.
The ViaNet software has provision for
extensive password security for both net
access and file access. It is possible not
only to limit the individual users on the
net, but also to vary the degree of protec¬
tion given to a node or a file. For example,
all the files at a given node may be made
“Read Only ” by declaring the node to be a
“Read Only” node. Or individual files
might be made “No Access” except on
presentation of a password.
The software allows you to assign
single-letter logical names for the paths
from a local machine to drives on other
machines. So, drive A: on NodeOI could
be accessed as drive G: from NodeOI.
On my two-computer network, for ex¬
ample, I set up the local floppy drives as
A: and B:, the hard-drive partitions as E:
through H:, and the RAM drive as I:.
Drive J: is assigned to the remote’s RAM
drive (path Z:\NODE02\l). I address the
remote machine’s floppy drives A: and B:
as C: and D: (paths Z:\NODE02\a and
Z:\NODE02\b). (If my machine had an 8"
Alternatives to a Local Area Network
Networks facilitate sharing re¬
sources among computers and users.
But, depending on the resource you
want to share, there may be an alterna¬
tive method less expensive than a local
area network.
Suppose you want to share an ex¬
pensive laser printer. One option is to
attach it to a network. Another is to
attach it to a single computer with a
floppy disk drive. Then, whoever has
something to print walks over to that
computer carrying a floppy disk with
the file to be printed. This alternative
is sometimes known as Walknet or
Sneakernet.
Perhaps you’re considering sharing
a Winchester disk between two
computers. Add up the costs of the
network’s components. Then com¬
pare that with the cost of buying a hard
disk for the computer that lacks one.
Remember that an additional Win¬
chester would increase the total
storage available, while a network
would just divide up existing storage
between two users.
Maybe what you want to share is
information. If the data won’t fit on a
single floppy, or if it changes more
frequently than you care to walk disks
around, then perhaps you should con¬
sider a network. Just remember that
network software introduces its own
complications, and involves an addi¬
tional expenditure. Charles Floto
18 Sextant November-December 1987
drive installed as drive C:, I would need
to use a different letter.)
The ViaNet software documentation is
divided into two sections. One, the
User’s Guide, is intended for all those
folks on the network who are expected to
use it but who may not have the highest
level of access to the system. For in¬
stance, these people will not have the
ability to add new members to a data
base.
The other section, the Network Ad¬
ministrator’s Guide, provides informa¬
tion for an individual designated a “Super
User. ” When logged on, a Super User may
perform those functions associated with
administering the net—such as adding
new members, making a node a location
that will contain the password file, or
giving a node the capability to download
the ViaNet software at bootup if that node
has no disk drives.
All in all
If you are thinking about coming up
with a multi-terminal system, you do not
need to pay a large consulting fee, and
you do not need to pay for a large
“turnkey” system. With a few ZlOOs,
’150s, or ’240s, this system will likely do
fine.
The ViaNet documentation includes
several forms and instructions for plan¬
ning the most efficient use of your net¬
work. I recommend studying this guide
before you set up your hard-disk parti¬
tions and distribute your printers and
hard drives.
In several cases, major software
packages such as Enable have special
versions designed for working across
networks. (See last issue’s “ZlOO Note¬
book” for a closer look at Enable; Sextant
#30, September-October 1987.) In each
case, prior to investing, you should con¬
tact the software company and ask them
if your current version will work on a
network.
Hyper Access: a communications
workhorse
HyperAccess is from Hilgraeve, Inc.
It’s a powerful communications package,
available both for the ZlOO and for IBM-
compatible computers. It costs $149, and
runs under MS-DOS.
Its ancestor. Access, was the first strong
ZlOO modem program I recall. Hyper-
Access incorporates many of the features
of that earlier product, but also includes a
number of new ideas. Matt Gray, the
author, apparently has a great deal of
communications experience; the experi¬
ence is well used here.
HyperAccess can use a variety of mo¬
dems, including the US Robotics internal
ZlOO modem. It can also use a variety of
external modems, including those that
operate at 2400 baud. Gomputer-to-
computer communications through a
cable can be as fast as 19,200 baud on the
ZlOO (up to 57,600 baud on the IBM
compatibles).
Basic communicating
I found that I could be up and commu¬
nicating with a dial-up computer network
within about fifteen minutes of opening
the HyperAccess box. The program
comes with a superb, clearly written
manual. And for the user willing to
proceed fearlessly into the unknown, the
program can be learned by exploring the
menus. You need only to tell the program
your desired speed and which communi¬
cations port you’ll be using.
When you first run HyperAccess, you
are given a master menu of six options:
place a call; answer a call; send and re¬
ceive files; use MS-DOS commands from
within HyperAccess; set up the program;
and quit and return to MS-DOS.
Also, you can go directly to the commu¬
nications screen by hitting FO.
The menu options summarize the
overall functions of HyperAccess. The
communications screen is a blank screen.
used for most actual conversational inter¬
action between your computer and a
remote system.
Placing a call
When you use HyperAccess to place a
call, a submenu is presented that contains
the phone numbers you have set up. If
you have a suitable modem, HyperAccess
can automatically call up and give
selected log-on sequences to as many as
127 remote systems. You can configure
this menu with any choice of numbers to
be called and log-on codes for each
number. The program comes with preset
log-on entries for several common com¬
mercial networks, including Gompu-
Serve, MGI Mail, EasyLink, NewsNet,
and The Source.
Answering a call
The “Answer a Gall” option supports
linking two computers through a cable, as
well as using your computer with a
modem capable of answering the phone.
With this option, HyperAccess permits
an individual at a remote terminal to gain
access to your computer. When dealing
with remote users, the program offers
three levels of protection.
At the first level, remote users can
transfer files from their computers to
yours, and can download files from your
computer. Also, messages can be left for
you or the other users to read. In this first
mode, though, remote users cannot alter
files on your machine.
A less-protected level allows a remote
user full access to operate your computer.
This allows running programs on your
computer from another computer. As an
example, remote users could write pro¬
grams on their computers, transfer the
programs to your computer, compile
them there using your compiler, and
transfer the results back to their own
computers for execution. So long as the
program being run from the remote loca-
IBM-PC
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•8Mhz Interrupt Kits, $12.
H / Z-100 Requires Modifications and 768K of RAM
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20mb M8425 .$275. • (w/SCSI cont.) $425. • M3425 ...$264.00
30mb M8438 .$299. • M3438 .$289.00
Z/ 100 M8425S -h CDR-1 IB Interface Board.$745.00
Call or write for information on other sizes & brands.
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GRAYMATTER Application Software Z-MAX.$49.00
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Circle #111 on Reader Service Card
Sextant November-December 1987 19
tion does not circumvent MS-DOS to
write directly to video memory, it will
appear on the remote terminal just as it
would on yours. This mode offers no
protection for your files other than the
good will of the authorized user.
The final level available to the remote
user is “Program Access.” This allows the
remote user to use just one program on
your computer. You specify the program;
it can be a .COM, .EXE, or batch file.
When the program exits. Hyper Access
will disconnect the caller.
This level allows tight control over re¬
mote access to your computer. You might
use this level for a program that would
dump a specific file of information to the
remote user, or you might allow the
remote to make a specific data entry
to a data base that's resident on your
computer.
Terminal emulation
HyperAccess can be used to communi¬
cate with large computer systems. This is
achieved by causing the ZlOO or IBM
compatible to respond to the remote sys¬
tem as if it were a terminal of a standard
type expected by the system. The options
for terminal emulation are: DEC VT-52,
VT-100, and VT-102; Televideo 925 and
950; IBM 3101 and 3278; Wang; H19; and
TTY.
I have never used a computer terminal
that I prefer to the ZlOO. I think one
could argue that the designers of the
ZlOO produced the ideal keyboard. Hy-
perAccess's emulation features allow use
of the ZlOO in place of expensive but less
comfortable terminals.
File transfer
HyperAccess allows the transfer of files
from one computer to another using any
of the following file-transfer modes:
Text—No error checking. Quick, but it
may lose characters.
XMODEM —^Transfers files in blocks, and
checks for errors in each block using both
cyclic-redundancy checking (CRC) and
checksum error checking.
Kermit—^Transfers files using the Colum¬
bia University format. This format also
uses extensive error checking.
The IBM-compatible version of Hy¬
perAccess supports file compression on
the fly; it also has a very fast file-transfer
protocol, proprietary to Hilgraeve.
Scripts
Aside from its easy-to-learn user inter¬
face, possibly the strongest feature of
HyperAccess is HyperPilot, a communi¬
cations language designed by Hilgraeve.
Programming using HyperPilot is in¬
tended for the advanced user who wishes
to automate the system, to allow others to
use it, or to allow repetitive tasks to be
done easily. The pre-programmed tasks
can range from simply obtaining mes¬
sages from a network in the middle of the
night to administering a dial-back securi¬
ty system. In the latter case, the remote
user could be required to provide a pass¬
word and then hang up, waiting for your
computer to call back. This would ensure
that the remote was at an authorized
phone number.
The computer can be set up to do tasks
that involve comparing input with ex¬
pected results; it will be able to respond
by performing any action that Hyper¬
Access is capable of performing. Branch¬
ing, string construction, and pattern
matching using wildcards are supported.
Copies and copyright protection
I tested HyperAccess using a modem,
and also using a cable connecting two
ZlOOs. The first time I used a cable, I
found that Hilgraeve had installed an in¬
teresting feature to protect its copyright.
The software checks to see that the serial
numbers of the two copies of Hyper¬
Access are, in fact, different. If they are
not, a message pleasantly recommending
that you get another copy of the program
is displayed, and the communication is
terminated.
The second HyperAccess copy needed
for computer-to-computer cable com¬
munications costs only $30, but the point
is well made. I was embarrassed that I
had been caught in a license-agreement
violation. The second copy is offered only
ViaNet® & KALIOOO™
Local Area Network
Combined to offer you the most cost effective and flexible solution to Local
Area Network your IBM® PC/AT’s, compatibles and Zenith ZlOO systems.
KALIOOO Adapters plug into any available slot and are connected
via an RG-58 coaxial cable and BNC connectors. The cable can be
as long as 10,000 feet and up to 254 logical users can be networked.
KALIOOO uses a 2 Mega bits/sec baseband signal and a unique
CSMA/CA/CD/PA network access method which combines both
Token and CSMA systems to provide extremely reliable and efficient
communication. The adapter uses less than one Watt of power and
is complemented with a semi-custom gatearray chip for increased
reliability.
ViaNet LAN File Server software is a Unix-like extension to
MSDOS® which provides a fully distributed peer-to-peer network
operating system. ViaNet is a serverless system and all resources
on the network nodes may be optionally shared through the extended
MSDOS hierarchical file structure. Redirection of requests is
completely transparent to users. ViaNet provides full resource and
data security for Owner, Groups of Users and All Users via
passwords. File and record locking is supported under MSDOS 3.1.
Compatible to DBASE-111 Plus, Lotus, Multiplan, WordStar, RBase
5000, Word Perfect, .... etc. Also includes a full featured print
server which also operates in background.
Complete Price $395.00
$445.00
(with IBM PC adapter)
(with ZlOO adapter)
SoftNet Communication, Inc.
15 Hillcrest Drive, Great Neck, NY 11021
(516) 829-6536 TLX 650-309-6952 MCI UW
KAL1000/TM SoftNet Communication, Inc., ViaNet/Registered TM ViaNetix., IBM/Registered TM International Business Machines., MSDOS/Registered TM Microsoft.
Circle #132 on Reader Service Card
20 Sextant November-December 1987
to nonbusiness end users who are the sole
owners of both machines.
A special version of HyperAccess is
available for use with the UCI EasyPC
board in IBM-compatible mode using the
ZlOO’s communications ports. This ver¬
sion is needed only if you do not have the
UCI communications board that supple¬
ments the EasyPC.
Ifs all you need
HyperAccess is probably the most
powerful communications program avail¬
able for the ZIOO. It should be considered
by any organization that needs to perform
complex communications tasks among
ZlOOs or IBM-compatible computers.
If all you want to do is converse with a
public network (such as those mentioned
above), a less powerful communications
package would probably do. But for the
complicated tasks that HyperAccess lets
you perform, I know of no other package
that would come close to this.
Matt Gray has told me that he does not
expect to come out with any further ver¬
sions of HyperAccess for the ZIOO, but no
matter. The version that he has out now
is superb. The current IBM-compatible
version is probably the leader in the field.
UCI’s EasyWIN
UCI Corporation is still supporting the
ZIOO. Here, Til review two rather new
UCI products: a hard-disk system and a
superb memory board.
The hard-disk system is called Easy¬
WIN, and it’s easy to install and operate.
The 21-megabyte drive costs $632; it’s a
Seagate ST 225 half-height drive that
mounts in either the A: or B: disk-drive
space. (A 31-MB drive is available for
$727.)
The EasyWIN system uses a Western
Digital, IBM-compatible, hard-disk con¬
troller, which connects to a UCI SlOO
board by means of a 64-wire ribbon con¬
nector. The IBM-compatible controller
allows users to move the hard disk to an
IBM-compatible computer if desired.
During installation, you mount the
Western Digital board on top of the hard
drive.
UCI supplies its own hard-disk utility
software in the form of a program that
gives you the following options: SHIP, to
place the disk read/write heads over an
unused section of the disk; DETECT, to
find sectors that have gone bad since the
initialization of the hard disk; PART, to
partition the hard disk; and INIT, to in¬
itialize the hard disk. As with Heath/
Zenith’s ZIOO hard-disk system, UCI
requires that a jumper plug be installed
on the controller board while you per¬
form an initialization. Afterward, you dis¬
able the jumper to prevent the possibility
of accidental initialization.
If you have UCI’s EasyPC IBM-
emulator board, you can use the Easy¬
WIN system with both the ZIOO side and
the IBM-compatible side. A separate
IBM partition is required for the IBM-
compatible side, however. And when
you’re in the IBM-compatible mode, no
means is currently provided to access files
that reside in the ZIOO partitions. (One
solution to this problem involves the use
of the EasyRAM board explained below.
And J. J. Thompson offers software that
bridges the two operating systems.)
In the ZIOO mode, I get a DEVICE ER¬
ROR message on my first attempt at a
boot after turning on the system. It boots
immediately thereafter, though. Dr.
Cheung from UCI tells me that the
problem is due to the amount of time
required for the heads to move from the
ship position at the center of the disk. He
said that the problem would be solved in
a future release of the routines stored
in the EasyWIN’s read-only memory
(ROM). This problem had no effect on the
operation of the hard disk. It was simply
disconcerting until I learned that there
was actually nothing wrong.
Also, I have noted that the drive makes
a prolonged clicking sound whenever the
ZIOO is powered up. This also does not
seem to affect the drive’s operation once
the machine is booted.
To establish an IBM-compatible sec¬
tion on the hard disk, you first operate
the EasyPC in the ZIOO mode. Here, you
use the PART section of the UCI hard-disk
BUSINESS BBS
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Integrated data base, XMODEM up/downloads,
remote PC operation. With source code $249.
$99 PC
COMMX
$119 CP/M
Emulates: VT100/102,Wyse,HP,ADM,TV,IBM,ADDS
Transfers: KERMIT, XMODEM, CPMMX mainframe,
TLX/TWX. POPUP hotkey to DOS or programs.
Unattended control scripts, dial directory
for 700 entries & electronic mail features.
$59 C DATA ENCRYPTION
Data Encryption Standard (U.S. government
standard FIPS PUB46) in Microsoft "C".
Includes compression & telecomm formatting,
allowing faster transmission & less storage
space plus compatibility with any computer
or service. Complete ”C** source code $249.
HAWKEYE
GRAFIX Inc
BOX 1400, OLDSMAR
FLORIDA 33557
DIAL 813-855-5846
Circle #217 on Reader Service Card
ANNOUNCING FAST EDIT II
Even if i^ou love your word processor...
YOU STILL NEED A GOOD
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that produces text directly compatible with
MS-DOS, modems, printers, compilers, etc.
YOU NEED FAST EDIT II
• Easy to use • Easy to learn • The fastest
text editor you’ll ever use, which features:
Full 24-line WYSIWYG display
Word wrap • Paragraph realignment
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AND MANY MORE FEATURES
For IBM compatibles, MS-DOS 2.0 or greater, 40K
minimum memory (occupies 30K disk space).
Send $19.95 for U-Print Disk Handbook version, or
$24.95 with pre-printed Handbook to:
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P.O. Box 2791, Lake Placid, FL 33852
Circle #242 on Reader Service Card
Sextant November-December 1987 21
utility to generate a partition named UCI.
Later, when you have booted in the IBM-
compatible mode, the computer will rec¬
ognize this partition as drive C:, and you
can format it.
This hard-disk system certainly works.
It is easy to install, and it offers compati¬
bility with both the ZlOO and IBM-
compatible sides of the computer. The
prices are reasonable, and I certainly do
recommend it.
EasyRAM
The EasyRAM is a memory board that
can contain up to 2 MB of random-access
memory (RAM), and four such boards
can be installed in the system. With the
full 2 MB, the board goes for $564.
The EasyRAM can be used either to
emulate a disk drive or to expand the
ZIOO’s available system memory (either
with or without the Easy PC board).
This allows as much as 8 MB of RAM-
disk storage space. (No single logical
RAM disk can be larger than 2 MB,
though.)
The RAM disks use UCTs rather unu¬
sual RAM-disk software. The memory
can be divided into as many as eight
sections, each separately addressed as a
logical drive (drive I: through drive P:).
Unlike most other RAM-drive software
systems, these drives can be resized or
even eliminated without rebooting the
system. It is also possible to reboot the
computer and have the files in the RAM
drives survive. (An optional battery-
backup system will allow the files on the
RAM drives to be retained even if the
computer is turned off.)
One way to transfer files from the
EasyPC’s IBM side to the ZIOO side is to
load the files into a RAM disk while in the
IBM-compatible mode; then reboot the
system as a ZIOO. On the command line
to rerun the UCI RAM-disk software, you
then set the /L switch to relink with the
RAM disk already established. Then you
can access the files on the “old” RAM
disk; they will appear exactly as they were
in the IBM-compatible mode. This tech¬
nique will also work for transferring files
in the other direction, from the EasyPC’s
ZIOO mode to its IBM-compatible mode.
For my part, I am partial to large RAM
disks such as this 2-MB system. I should
point out that the UCI board is available
in sizes smaller than 2 MB. (With I MB,
the board costs $446; with 5I2K, it’s
$387.) In my opinion, though, once you
have committed yourself to investing in
such a product, you should go for the fully
loaded board. You will certainly wind up
expanding to the full-sized board before
you are done.
The UCI RAM boards are the most
reasonably priced ZIOO RAM boards I
have seen. (They are also specially de¬
signed for use with the Easy PC. Other
SlOO-bus boards may not work in the
IBM-compatible mode.)
The VI Video Enhancement Kit
I have recently found a new party in the
ZlOO-support business, Hughes Devel¬
opment Systems. This company is offer¬
ing the VI Video Enhancement Kit. It
costs $139, and gives you an additional
64K of video memory. The computer can
then bank-switch to this memory, giving
you a fourth plane of video memory,
called the intensity plane. You can then
write ZIOO programs that produce an in¬
tensity signal, which allows 16 colors
rather than the usual eight. (Paul Herman
is offering software using this capability.)
The VI also has a palette capability that
consists of a conversion circuit placed
between the video memory and the mon¬
itor. This allows you to map any color into
another color without changing the con¬
tents of video memory, making the color
remapping invisible to any application
program being run on the ZIOO.
The VI board and associated cables are
physically installed between the video
and main boards of the ZIOO. No trace
cutting or soldering is involved in the
installation. The entire project can be
completed in about one hour. (Paul
Herman says he did his installation in half
an hour. He’s quicker than lam.)
The basic configuration of the Video
Enhancement system supports only the
color-monitor (RGB) output. To add
support for the monochrome-monitor
(composite) output, you need to purchase
an optional hardware modification from
Hughes. I agree with Hughes on this
approach. The hardware needed to make
the monochrome monitor see 16 levels of
intensity is probably not worth the invest¬
ment. The best bet is to simply use the
color-monitor output. Hughes has left
the decision up to the user.
My overall impression of this product
is that it is a new idea, and it’s well
implemented. One does not see many
improvements to the original H/ZIOO de¬
sign. This is one.
Additional Information
KALIOOO local area network (software
and support board), $445 per ZIOO
node; $395 per IBM-compatible node.
SoftNet Communications, Inc.
15 Hillcrest Drive
Great Neck, NY 11021
516/829-6536
HyperAccess, $149; second copy for
direct connection, $30.
Hilgraeve, Inc.
P.Q Box 941
Monroe, MI 48I6I
800/826-2760 or 313/243-0576
EasyWIN, 21 MB, $632; 31 MB, $727.
EasyRAM, 5I2K, $387; I MB, $446; 2
MB, $564.
UCI Corporation
948 Cherry Street
Kent, OH 44240
2I6/673-5I55 or 800/UCI-COMP
J. J. Thompson
281 Warren Avenue
Kenmore, NY I42I7
716/873-0380 after 5 p.m. Eastern time
VI Video Enhancement System, $139;
VI-M Monochrome Option, $29.
Hughes Development Systems
lOIOI S.W Freeway, Suite 400
Houston, TX 77074
713/772-2840
Paul Herman, Inc.
3620 Amazon Drive
New Port Richey, FL 33553
813/376-5457 A
LEATHERETTE DUST COVERS
High quality, hand crafted, custom fitted leather¬
ette dust covers are available for the following
listed Heath/Zenith computers and accessories. If
your H/Z equipment is not listed write for a price
quotation. Custom dust covers can be manufactured
if you will provide a diagram with dimensions
(actual cost will depend on the size of the cover
and will include a $5 design fee).
H8, H14, H17, MX-80, ZVM-122/135 $12.95
H/Z 100 all in one, H/Z 19/89/90 $15.95
Diablo 630 w/tractor, H/Z-29 $16.95
H/Z 25/125 $18.95
H/Z-lOO Low-Profile color/raono * $18.95
* Specify monitor type (i.e. ZVM-135)
8088/86 ASSEMBLY DEBUGGING TOOL
SNAP is a MACRO which when included in an assem¬
bly language program allows you to take ’’snapshots"
of memory and/or registers as the program is exe¬
cuting (does not have to be run with DEBUG). SNAP
requires MASM, LINK, and a printer.
The cost is only $19.95.
To order send a check or money order for the
appropriate amount (no CODs or charges) to
Kandueazy Computer Software Services (KCSS), 6218
Blossom Lane, Alexandria, VA 22310. Please add
$2.50 for shipping and handling. Virginia
residents add 4.5% sales tax. FREE CATALOGUE
SPECIAL: DYSAN DSDD diskettes (bulk pack) only $.69 each in any quantity.
22 Sextant Novemher-December 1987
Circle #119 on Reader Service Card
UCI Mini Catalog:
EasyWIN
Most economical hard disk
system available for the Z-100.
It replaces the Z'217 hard disk
system and works just like it.
You can prep it, part it, and
boot from it.
Features:
■ Direct replacement of
Zenith Z'217 Winchester
disk. ■ Controls 2 physical
drives. ■ Supports auto boot,
all Z'lOO formats, and Zenith
diagnostics. ■ Operates in
any Z-lOO with or without
EasyPC. ■ Future support of
other hard disk controllers,
removable cartridge drives,
etc. "Operates at 5 or 8 MHz.
Includes:
■ Intelligent controller card
to adapt IBM PC compatible
hard disk controller to the
Z'lOO. ■ Western Digital PC
hard disk controller card.
■Seagate 10/20/30 MB hard
disk drive (ST215/225/238).
■ Drive cables. ■ Fully docu¬
mented User’s Manual.
Z-148 Expansion
Chassis
Finally a way for Z'148
users to take advantage of the
growing world of IBM PC
hardware including EGA,
PGA, modems, hard disk
drives, multifunction cards,
etc.
Features:
■ 8 available slots: 6 full PC
slots and 2 half-size slots.
■ 135 watt switching power
supply with built-in fan. "UL
and FCC approved chassis
and power supply. ■ 5 or 8
MHz no wait state. "Standard
internal mounting brackets
for 2 full-height or 4 half¬
height drives. ■ Easy access,
flip top metal case.
Includes:
■ Z-148 adapter. ■ 5 ft.
shielded cable. ■ Fully docu¬
mented Installation Manual.
■ Dimensions: 17.5 " D x
19.5 " W X 5.5 " H. "Weight:
25 lbs. ■ Color: Ivory.
Call now for your copy of the Fall ’86 Edition
of the UCI Product Catalog.
800-UCI-COMPUTER
CORPORATIOIM
948 Cherry Street, Kent, Ohio 44240
(216) 673-5155 / 800-UCI-COMPUTER
Circle #196 on Reader Service Card
The Last National
HUGCON
Good buys, and some goodbyes, were the order of the weekend just outside
Chicago.
Victoria Saxon
With a mixture of anticipation and re¬
gret, almost 750 members of the Heath/
Zenith community and their guests filed
into the banquet room of the Hyatt Re¬
gency O’Hare in Chicago on the second
evening of the 1987 International Heath/
Zenith Users’ Group Conference. The
anticipation came from the ever-present
hope we all felt that maybe—just may¬
be—we would win our very own portable
computer or perhaps a gift certificate for
products in the Heath catalogue. The
regret arose from HUG’s recent an¬
nouncement that the 1987 international
conference would be the last: Future con¬
ferences would be regional.
Despite the mixed feelings, Saturday
night’s banquet was the highlight of the
sixth International HUGCON. The con¬
ference had begun the previous day (Fri¬
day, August 21) and would end the follow¬
ing afternoon (Sunday, August 23), draw¬
ing close to 1,000 people. The banquet
was nestled between Friday’s cries of
“Gee, look at all the neat things to buy!”
and Sunday’s laments of “Uh-oh, how am
I going to feed my kids for the next
month?”
Surprisingly, the banquet food was
good. We had just finished our chocolate
mousse when the man next to me at the
table commented that he hoped Jim
Buszkiewicz {REMark’s managing editor)
would speak, because he always livens up
a party with his jokes. Sure enough, even
before our dessert dishes were cleared,
Jim was up on stage, making us laugh in
the way that only Jim Buszkiewicz can.
Some interesting facts about
HUGgies
A giant balloon arch and two huge
balloon bouquets formed an impressive
backdrop on the stage. Jim told us that we
Victoria Saxon is a former Sextant
employee. After HUGCON, she headed
for the West Coast to try her hand in
the film industry.
were not the only group holding a confer¬
ence at the Hyatt that weekend: There
was also the Balloon and Singing Tele¬
gram Conference. Although these folks
had kindly provided some balloon deco¬
rations for our banquet, Jim refused to
provide us with a singing telegram.
He did, however, tell us some interest¬
ing facts about the HUGCON attendees.
Present at the conference were two
people from Israel, two from El Salvador,
and HUG members from Hawaii, Ber¬
muda, and Naples, Italy. Representatives
HUGCON was the
H386 kit’s first public
showing.
from over 25 local HUGs introduced
themselves. They ranged from a single
member representing half of a HUG in
“the middle of Georgia” to 30 representa¬
tives from the Capital Heath Users’
Group, with a membership of 900.
Of the nearly 950 HUGCON atten¬
dees, Jim said that about 400 own
H/ZlOOs; 420 own IBM-compatible ma¬
chines; 210 own 8-bit machines (H8s and
H89s); 7 own portable computers; and
244 own “others.”
One man at the banquet owns 34 H8s.
When asked whether he had yet dis¬
covered that the H8s were not IBM-PC
compatible, he replied: “Are PCs H8-
compatible yet?”
We also learned that this year marks
Heath Company’s 40th anniversary, and
that 25% of Heath’s sales over those forty
years have been in computers.
John Frank takes the stage
After Jim Buszkiewicz’s opening re¬
marks, HUGCON banquet attendees
were given another treat: John Frank, the
new president of Zenith Data Systems,
spoke a bit about his new job, and how he
expects to direct Zenith Data Systems.
Frank expressed his amazement at the
turnout and enthusiasm for HUGCON,
then described what he thinks are the
three ingredients of a successful business.
He stressed that it is important first to
have an aggressive product plan that
allows for development within the accept¬
ed standards of the industry, and to strive
to go beyond those standards.
The second ingredient for a successful
business, said Frank, is to have an aggres¬
sive sales and marketing division. Frank
remarked on ZDS’s effectiveness in sell¬
ing computers to the college, govern¬
ment, and top business markets. Last
year, he said, 25,000 college students
graduated owning Zenith computers.
ZDS anticipates that 40,000 students will
graduate with Zenith machines next year.
This leads to speculation that increasing
familiarity will be a boon to Zenith when
students who become decision-makers in
business are called upon to buy computer
systems.
The third ingredient, Frank said, is to
have satisfied customers. He hopes that
ZDS will continue to satisfy its customers
under his leadership.
Frank is not a newcomer to Zenith
Data Systems. He started with the com¬
pany six years ago as national sales
manager, with a staff of one. He has seen
the company develop over his six-year
employment, and said he is pleased that
Heath and Zenith are working together as
one company. Frank thinks that there is a
new level of relationship—both between
him and Bill Johnson (president of Heath
Gompany), and between the older mem¬
bers of the Heath Users’ Groups and
new Heath/Zenith computer users and
members.
Awards, chuckles, and a few
rewards
After we heard from John Frank, Jim
Buszkiewicz resumed the stage to hand
24 Sextant November-December 1987
LONG &
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We've improved our popular TWIST & SHOUT! package and given it a new name!
LONG & LOUD! Version 2.0 is easier to use and install, includes new typefaces In
both LONG (four sizes) and LOUD (Times, Sans Serif, Olde English, Script and
Symbols — in both upper and lower case). LONG lets you print out your spread¬
sheets (or any file) the long way (sideways) on your dot-matrix printer. No more
cutting and pasting to put together a fragmented printout. LOUD prints giant ban¬
ners In letters from two to eight inches high. Make banners & posters with ease!
PeBTO!
Multi-Function Software
Supercharger for CPIM
NEW for Heath/Zenith
Profiles magazine wrote, "PRESTO still has the edge over Write Hand Man in
features and general polish..." And now we've improved it even more! PRESTO
adds features to any program you run. Just hit a special trigger key and PRESTO
suspends your current program and opens a window on-screen. You can then call up
a floating point calculator, a programmers calculator (hex, binary, octal, decimal), a
notepad, a perpetual calendar, a Rolodex™, and perform screen dumps. Hit
another key and you're right back where you left your original program.
PRESTO! (Version 3) uses almost 5K less memory than previous versions, yet
includes great new features like:
NEW CP/M Commands: From within any program you can now do a directory, copy
and rename files, erase files, and type files to the screen.
NEW Keyboard Macro Processor: Throw away SmartKey and XtraKey because
PRESTO now Includes its own key processor. The keys module includes powerful
features like the ability to automatically load special key definitions for each
program you use. One key can do the work of hundreds — a real time saver!
And best of all —the price is just $39.95. Available for all Heath/ZenIth CP/M
computers using H19/89 type terminal. Versions are also available for Morrow,
Osborne, Kaypro and Otrona. Specify computer and hard or soft sector format.
Otm^randt
Complete Business Graphics Toolkit'^^
Finally there's an easy and fun way to
create graphics on your H/Z-89, H/Z-90,
H/Z-100 (CP/M only) computer or any
H/Z-19 equipped machine.
No extra hardware required! It works
with a standard unmodified machine yet
also supports the TMSI SuperSet ROM,
and the Font19 Character ROM.
Freehand drawing: You can easily draw
lines, boxes, circles and write on the
screen in large characters. Full block
operations are also supported — move,
delete, fill, copy and more! Your
graphic creations can be saved to disk
and recalled at any time for further
editing. Layout forms, design logos,
draw diagrams and pictures. It's easy
and fun to use.
Business graphics: REMBRANDT lets
you create horizontal and vertical bar
charts, pie charts and xy plots (scatter
graphs). Use hand-entered data or
read numerical data from virtually any
source including dBase ll, SuperCalc,
MBasic, Wordstar and ASCII files.
Slide shows: Sequence your graphics
on-screen using eleven cinematic
special effects like wipes, fades and
spirals. Produce electronic 'slide
shows' without any programming.
Print your graphics: Print your graphic
screens on most dot-matrix and daisy
wheel printers. Interface with all word
processors so that your reports can
Include charts, graphs or any graphic
creation — intermixed with your text!
Compatible: It even reads, displays
and prints Ed-A-Sketchi\\es\
Affordable: Even with all of this power,
REMBRANDT is available for an
amazingly low price of... $39.95
REMBRANDT runs on H/Z-89’s, 90‘s.
100's and H/Z-19 equipped machines.
Other Stuff: MILESTONE Business Project Planner (CP/M and MS/DOS) $99.95, MEDIA MASTER Disk Conversion (Z-100, PC-
DOS) $39.95, MEDIA MASTER PLUS Disk Conversion & CP/M Emulator $59.95, ACCELERATE 8/16 including V20 chip $99.95
TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
22458 Ventura Blvd., Suite E
Woodland Hills, CA 91364
We accept VISA, MASTERCARD and AMERICAN EXPRESS
Order by mail or call our 24 hour toll free order line
from anywhere in the US or Canada:
800-628-2828 (Extension 918)
Technical questions, orders: 818-716-1655 (9-5 PST)
Add $4 per order postage/handling. Overseas, add $12.
US funds only. CA residents add 6% tax (LA County 6.5%)
Circle #198 on Reader Service Card
Sextant November-December 1987 25
out the annual HUG awards. Joe Katz,
columnist for Sextant and REMark, re¬
ceived the “User of the Year” award, and,
upon accepting the award, commented:
“For once, I have no words. Thank you
very much.”
The Software Group received the “Ven¬
dor of the Year” award for its support of
the ZIOO. The company has recently been
in the news because Enable, its multi¬
function software package, was included
with the U.S. Department of Defense/
Zenith contract for the T81. Enable is an
integrated program that combines data
base management, graphics, word pro¬
cessing, spreadsheet, and communica¬
tions capabilities.
Herb Friedman (who organized last
year’s Western Regional HUGGON) and
Jim Jones each received lifetime HUG
memberships for their support of the
Heath Users’ Group.
Two surprise awards were also pre¬
sented. Former HUG Manager Bob
Ellerton received a plaque for seven years
of dedicated service to the Heath Users’
Group. And for constantly ribbing Jim
Buszkiewicz about his tie selection, Polly
Gilmore, wife of Heath Vice President
Ghas Gilmore, received the tie Jim had
worn all day Saturday.
This year’s entertainment was pro¬
vided by comedian Dick Hardwick.
Hardwick has purportedly entertained
audiences at Disneyland’s Golden Horse¬
shoe Review for the past nine years, and
had about five seconds of stardom in the
motion picture, “Nothing in Gommon.”
The awarding of door prizes rounded
out the evening. Two children received
Heathkit color television kits, and two
other children got Fischertechnik kits.
Sextant’s technical editor, John Walker,
received a box of 70 disks containing
hug’s entire library of IBM-compatible
public domain software. 0ohn begrudg¬
ingly admits that he may now have to buy
ZPC to make his ZIOO IBM-PG compati¬
ble.) Two people (including Bob Gray of
Graymatter Application Software) re¬
ceived HS-148s.
John Guenther of Zenith’s federal of¬
fice had donated a Z386, which went to
one lucky prizewinner. Zenith’s commer¬
cial office responded by giving away a
Z181 portable computer. Shortly thereaf¬
ter, the “Joe Schulte-Bill Johnson Show”
began: First Joe Schulte, president of
Veritechnology, gave away an HS-248-S;
then Heath Gompany President Bill
Johnson awarded an HS-386. Joe Schulte
gave away a ZP-150; and Bill Johnson
countered with five $100 gift certificates
from Heath. Then Joe Schulte handed out
two more ZP-150s; and Bill Johnson fin¬
ished things off with a $500 Heath gift
certificate.
Those few of us who left the banquet
with no new computers or certificates
were heartened in knowing that the inde¬
pendent vendors would be giving out still
more door prizes during the rest of the
conference. And, of course, there was
one other bit of encouraging news: Jim
Buszkiewicz announced that there was a
very little bitty chance that this would not
be the last International HUGGON. . . .
A walk through the vendor area
Ten years ago, the Heath Users’ Group
was formed for users of the H8, the Hll,
and the ET3400. Walking around the
vendor area on Friday afternoon, I
couldn’t help thinking how odd it must be
for those original users to see how much
has changed over the years. As may be
expected, the change has mixed some
bad with some good. While support for
H8 users has all but vanished, the
progress Heath/Zenith has made has
been tremendous. And although the ex¬
perimentalist attitudes of some earlier
users may have been lost, there is still a
sense that HUG members know a lot
more about their computers than average
computer owners do.
The first booth I visited belonged to
Kres Engineering. The people at Kres
showed me their High-Performance
SSM-150 Speed Kit for ’150-series com¬
puters. This kit can almost double the
’150’s 4.77-MHz clock speed. Kres also
had on display an RSS-148 ’148 System
Reset and Speed Switch.
Next, I stopped at the Disk Movers
booth. The company offers a wide variety
of colored diskettes as well as disk storage
boxes. One of these storage boxes had a
wooden rolltop similar to an old-fash¬
ioned rolltop desk.
Hogware’s General Manager, Janet
Hirsch, was displaying ShowOff at her
booth. ShowOff is Hogware’s high-
resolution graphics-display program for
the ZIOO. It offers 640 by 480 pixels of
resolution and 92 colors, and also
provides many different painting pat¬
terns. Using ShowOff, a ZIOO owner can
capture and enhance graphics on his
computer. The program lets you draw on
the screen, using a mouse, arrow keys, or
a digitizing pad.
On Saturday, Ms. Hirsch gave a semi¬
nar on ZIOO graphics using ShowOff.
During this talk, she showed several
slides of graphics created with or en¬
hanced by ShowOff. The pictures were
quite impressive.
ShowOff is sold for $79, or for $169
with a Logitech G7 mouse. It requires
384K, three banks of 64K video memory,
and version 2 or higher of the Micro¬
soft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS).
(ZIOO owners interested in finding out
more about ShowOff may obtain a demo
disk from Hogware for $3.)
Hogware also offers Logitech’s Person¬
al Publisher, desktop-publishing software
that allows a user to combine graphics
with text. This program is best for small
projects. (It is not quite as high-powered a
program as Aldus’ PageMaker, which may
be used for publishing, say, a full-length
PowerStation
A Complete VT220 / VT240 Work Station Upgrade
for Zenith PC’s, AT’s and Compatibles
“You’ll never know
you are not using
a real DEC terminal
unless you take
advantage of the
many extended
features.”
$389
PowerStation^” 240
VT240 style keyboard and ZSTEM VT240 Emulation Software.
ZSTEM pc™ - VT240 Emulator Emulation Software only. $250
VT240/241 Emulation software with all the features of ZSTEM VT220 plus
ZSTEM 4014 and REGIS graphics.
PowerStation™ 220 $289
VT220 style keyboard and ZSTEM VT220 emulation Software.
ZSTEMpc™-VT220 Emulator Emulation Software only. $150
All the features of ZSTEM VT100 plus 8-bit mode, downloadable fonts,
user defined keys, full national/multi-national modes. Extended macros-
/script language. True 132 columns on Hercules, VGAs, Super EGAs, and
standard EGAs using the EGAmate option. 128 columns on CGAs. 43 line
support on EGAs. Enhanced keyboard support. Ungermann Bass Net/One
support.
KEA Systems Ltd.
#412 - 2150 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. Canada V6K 4L9
Support (604) 732-7411 TELEX 04-352848 VCR FAX (604) 732-0715
Order Desk (800) 663-8702 Toll Free
30 day money back guarantee AMEX/MC/VISA
EGAmate™ $39
Daughterboard option for 132 columns on most
standard EGA adaptors.
ZSTEMpc™-4014 Emulator $99
Use with ZSTEM VTIOO, VT220, or stand-alone.
Interactive zoom and pan. Save/recall images from
disk. Keypad, mouse, digitizer, printer, plotter, and
TIFF support. 4100 color and line style color mapping.
640 X 400 and 640 x 480 on some adaptor/monitors.
ZSTEMpc™-\n’100 Emulator $99
High performance COLOR VTIOO. True double
high/wide, smooth scrolling. ISO and attribute
mapped color. XMODEM and KERMIT, softkey/MAC-
ROS, DOS access. Available to the A/F and Navy c
AFCAC 254.
Circle #171 on Reader Service Card
26 Sextant November-December 1987
newsletter.) It requires HUG’s ZPC to run
on a 100, and it may be purchased from
Hogware for $74.
More '100 and '150 support
Darrell Pelan, managing the Micronics
Technology booth, was offering a new
speedup modification for the Z150. This
circuit board is software-controllable and
doesn’t affect the MS-DOS clock or sound
generation on the system. The unit nor¬
mally costs $34.95, but the show price
was $32.
Micronics Technology was also selling
SmartWatch for the Z150/160. Priced at
$45, SmartWatch installs in the comput¬
er’s ROM socket. Pelan was also offering a
Winchester drive for the H/Z89 at a spe¬
cial show price of $575.
Robert Beasley of Bea-Soft had such
confidence in his products that he was
handing out guarantees with his picture
on them. He was offering special
HUGCON prices on hard-disk drives,
including a 20-megabyte hard disk for
$320, 30 MB for $350, and 40 MB for
$440. Beasley was also offering 20 MB
for the ZlOO that runs from an exist¬
ing Winchester card in the computer.
Beasley said the advantage of this product
is that it will add 20 MB to a ZlOO for two
hundred dollars less than usual.
In the booth next to Bea-Soft, the folks
from GraphNet Systems were showing off
a 310-MB hard disk with a 27-millisecond
average access time. The hard disk was
being sold, complete with public domain
software, for $4,850.
Marc Brooks, of Controlled Data Re¬
cording Systems, Inc. (C.D.R.), was
justifiably enthusiastic about his new
CDR317 controller for the ZlOO. The
controller allows the ZlOO to talk to three
different disk drives at once. To demon¬
strate it, Mr. Brooks used the controller
to hook up his ZlOO and the ZlOO
from Kres Engineering’s booth to three
drives: a Kodak (DTC) cartridge-
removable drive, a Seagate 225 drive, and
a Rodime drive. Mr. Brooks said the
CDR317 controller adds “a lot more
power and flexibility” to the ZlOO without
changing ZlOO software. Because the
controller is SCSI-based (conforming to
the Small Computer Standard Interface),
it will allow access to many SCSI-based
devices, including Bernoulli boxes and
SCSI networks.
Bargains and some unique products
ACCESS, describing their products as
“Affordable Computer Components,
Equipment, Supplies & Services,” was
offering just that. The booth was
crammed with printer paper, print-
wheels, diskettes, storage cases, and
other supplies, at very affordable prices.
ACCESS also sells computer printers.
And speaking of good prices, Al Davis
Enterprises had lots of deals for HUG
enthusiasts. Mr. Davis’s wares included a
’248 kit for $550; a Z248 CPU/memory
board for $75; and ZlOO 8-MHz boards
for $100.
Megamicro Computer Center sells
software for IBM-compatible computers.
One HUGCON special was the King
James version of the Bible, available on 16
disks.
Eight-bit-computer enthusiast Kirk L.
Thompson was selling keyboard overlays
at his booth. He was also nice enough to
hand out copies of The Staunch 8/89’er
newsletter (as a favor to its editor. Hank
Lotz), and copies of the Quikdata cata¬
logue of hardware and software products.
My next stop was Zyzx, Inc.’s booth, to
view the company’s HERO 1-IBM Devel¬
opment System. Described as “the ulti¬
mate niche product,” the system is an
assembler/compiler and debugger that
allows users to program their HEROs
(HEath Robots) using an IBM-compat¬
ible computer. The advantage of this
package is that users can program their
robots on a computer keyboard in
English, instead of having to lean over the
robot to type code in the form of letters
and numbers. (During programming,
you need a serial cable to attach the com¬
puter to the robot.) Regularly priced at
$119, the system had a special show price
of $99.
More vendors
Shing Wong, president of Wong’s Ad¬
vanced Technologies, Inc., was proudly
offering the Evergraphics Deluxe, a high-
Sextant Binder Interface Kits
Now you can interface your copies of Sextant to a
3-ring binder! Tough plastic Magazine Holders let you
preserve, protect, and organize your copies of Sextant
without drilling holes In them.
Each package of 12 holders costs only $2.95. To order
yours, return the coupon with your payment today to
Sextant Publishing Co., 716 E Street, S.E., Washington,
DC 20003.
Instructions
1. Open magazine to center.
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ArriiKTIOK!
PAKS
If you own a Heath/Zenith Z-100 Computer and
plan to continue using it for a while, we would
like to have you on our mailing list. We are
developers of innovative, quality software for
the Z-100. You're familiar with these popular
software products...
DOODLER-V Graphics Package
MOUSE PACK Mouse Driver
ScreenPro Memory Resident Utility
We are continuing to develop new software and
offer new accessories for the Z-100. Write to
us or return the reader service card today. We
will send you our FREE CATALOG and make sure you
are the first to know about new Z-100 products.
PAUL F. HERMAN
Software Graphics Tools
3620 Amazon Drive
New Port Richey, FL 34655
Wione81^376;5^
Circle #172 on Reader Service Card
Sextant November-December 1987 27
resolution graphics adapter, at a special
show price of $179. The adapter features
1024-by-704-pixel resolution, and is
Hercules-Plus compatible. It’s available
for Heath/Zenith’s IBM-compatibles.
Mr. Wong was also displaying a Teknika
M3-503, 13", multi-standard monitor.
The monitor features 926-by-580 resolu¬
tion, and was show-priced at $475.
It was especially exciting to stop by the
WindowDOS Associates booth. At the
time of the conference, version 2 of
WindowDOS had been out for about
three months. David Thomas, who devel¬
oped the program with his partner, Frank
Dever, was at the booth demonstrating it
for passersby.
Basically, WindowDOS allows a user to
access any MS-DOS functions while in
any program. For example, if you’re
working in your word processor and can’t
remember a particular filename, you can
use the List command to pull up a
window on your computer screen and
find the filename you want.
Because WindowDOS is memory resi¬
dent, it can be accessed from any
program. It takes up only 50 kilobytes of
memory, and runs on IBM compatibles.
WindowDOS was favorably reviewed
Vendors at HUGCON ’87
ACCESS
P.O. Box 1053
Norristown, PA 19404
215/279-3320
Audio-Visual Entertainment
Software (A.V.E.S.)
P.O Box 763
Potsdam, NY 13676
Bea-Soft Computers
P.O. Box 319
Shalimar, FL 32579
904/651-9231
C.D.R. Systems, Inc.
7210 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92111
619/560-1272
Computer Consultants to Business
1033 Bishop Walsh Road
Cumberland, MD 21502
301/759-1260
D-G Electronic Developers
700 South Armstrong
Denison, TX 75020
214/465-7805
Al Davis
4894 Lake Chapin Road
Berrien Springs, MI 49103
616/471-1792
Disk Movers
8534 McCormick Boulevard
Skokie, IL 60076
312/679-3727
Ecosoft, Inc.
6413 North College Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46220
317/255-6476
Generic Computer Products, Inc.
P.O. Box 790
Marquette, MI 49855
906/249-9801
GraphNet Systems, Inc.
P.O. Box 337
Reading, PA 19603
215/376-5043
Graymatter Application Software
1601 Township Line Road
Norristown, PA 19401
215/279-4460
Heath Company
Benton Harbor, MI 49022
Orders: 800/253-0570; in Michigan
and Alaska, 616/982-3411. General
Office (non-order calls);
616/982-3200.
Hilgraeve, Inc.
P.O. Box 941
Monroe, MI 48161
800/826-2760; 313/243-0576
Hogware Company
470 Belleview Ave.
Webster Groves, MO 63119
314/962-7833
Jay Gold Sofh\are
P.b. Box 2024
Des Moines, lA 50310
515/279-9821
Kres Engineering
P.O. Box 1268
La Canada, CA 91011
818/957-6322
Megamicro Computer Center
P.O. Box 39070
Philadelphia, PA 19136
800/433-MEGA
Micro Doc
3108 Jackson St.
Bellevue, NE 68005
402/291-0795, 7-10 p.m. Central
time
Micronics Technology
449 Barbados Way
Niceville, FL 32578
904/897-4257
Newline Software
PO. Box 289
Tiverton, RI 02878
401/624-3322
New Orleans General Data Services
Inc.
7230 Chadbourne Drive
New Orleans, LA 70126
504/241-9495
PC Technologies, Inc.
704 Airport Boulevard
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
313/996-9690
Powerline Systems
P.O. Box 97
Lincroft, NJ 07738
201/747-2063
Public Brand Software
PO. Box 51315
Indianapolis, IN 46251
800/IBM-DISK
The Software Group
Northway Ten Executive Park
Ballston,^NY 12019
800/634-3470; in New York,
800/551-1004
Kirk L. Thompson
#6 West Branch Mobile Home
Village
Route 1
West Branch, lA 52358
Barry A. Watzman
560 Sunset Road
Benton Harbor, MI 49022
616/925-3136
WindowDOS Associates
Box 300488
Arlington, TX 76010
817/467-4103
Wong’s Advanced Technologies
3201 Loyola Drive
Kenner, LA 70065
800/626-1030; in Louisiana,
504/464-7379
Zenith Data Systems
1000 Milwaukee Ave.
Glenview, II 60025
800/842-9000, ext. 1
Zyzx, Inc.
P.b. Box 4194
Arlington Heights, IL 60006
312/870-0938
28 Sextant Novemher-Decemher 1987
in the May issue of PC World, the June
issue of REMark, and the August issue of
Computer Shopper (which rated the
program first of about a dozen such
programs).
Generic Computer Products, Inc. was
offering free disks to HUGgies in ex¬
change for their favorite computer jokes.
I didn’t get a chance to ask them if they
had heard any particularly good jokes, but
I’m sure they were well entertained
throughout the weekend. Generic was
also selling Generic CADD version 3,
Dot-Plot, Auto-Convert, and Draft En¬
hancements 1 and 2. In addition to many
other discounted software offers, the
Generic price list included an expanded
line of products from Borland Interna¬
tional, including Turbo BASIC, Turbo C,
Turbo Pascal, and others.
Fun and games and some real deals
For those attendees interested in some
fun and games, A.V.E.S. (Audio Visual
Entertainment Software) was offering
25% discounts on its video games. Peder
Jungck and Brad LaRonde co-founded
this company about two years ago while in
college. They’re still in college, and
they’re still in business selling a number
of fun-looking games for ZlOOs and IBM
clones.
In “Operation: Airlift,” the user pilots a
helicopter into enemy territory to rescue
hostages. In “Silent Runner,” you climb
ladders and ropes to escape crazy little
video monsters. There’s supposed to be a
surprise ending if you get through all 99
levels of play, but Brad (the program’s
author) refused to reveal what it is.
Peder’s “Star Hawk” requires the user to
fight off bug-like characters in space.
A.V.E.S. also offers programs de¬
signed to help users write their own
graphics. All the programs are reasonably
priced, and will undoubtedly provide
hours of fun.
Over at PC Technologies’ booth, sales
manager Bradley Lahr extolled his com¬
pany’s 286 Express Card—a half-slot
accelerator card for the Z150 and other
IBM-PC and XT compatibles. It gives the
machines an 80286 processor, added
speed, and a “hot key” that enables or
disables 8K of RAM without the user
having to reboot the system. The 286
Express Card also allows a user to toggle
between 80286 and 8088 processing.
Regularly $595, the 286 Express Card
was specially marked at $395.
PC Technologies’ Ramracer offers the
same features as the 286 Express Card,
but adds 2 MB of expanded memory, and
emulates Expanded Memory Specifica¬
tion (EMS) and Enhanced Expanded
Memory Specification (EEMS) RAM.
The 286 Ramracer is normally sold for
$745, but the convention price was $495.
Barry Watzman’s Addresselope pro¬
gram was so new, he said, he could sell
the software at the conference, but the
manual was not expected to come out for
another week. Addresselope is a memo¬
ry-resident program designed to help
users address envelopes with their com¬
puter. The program features “address
capture capability,” which means the
program is smart enough to take an ad¬
dress off the top of a letter instead of
requiring the user to retype the address
for printout on an envelope. Address¬
elope was specially priced for HUGCON
at $24.95, ten dollars off its regular price.
A friendly pair, John and Sheelah
Preusse, of Powerline Systems, gave me a
thorough demonstration of Jupiter, their
records management program. This pro¬
gram is efficient and user friendly, and is
designed to maintain information about
people. Mr. Preusse uses it to keep track
of his clients, and is able to easily call up
any individual’s address. He can also keep
track of the correspondence he has had
with any one client by using the “notes”
section of the client’s file.
The program is smart enough to handle
foreign addresses and telephone num¬
bers, and still take care of little things
such as capitalizing names. If you have
someone’s record on screen and want to
send a letter to that person, you need only
to send the file to the printer, and the
program will take whatever infoignation it
needs from the record to print an en¬
velope or a form letter with the person’s
correct address. One of the nicer features
of Jupiter is that unused space in a parti¬
cular person’s record does not take up any
Increase Zenith PC Speed
600%...Memory 2MB
286 Speedcard
• 100% IBM compatible
• Keyboard switching only
•3 year parts/labor
warranty
•30 day risk free trial
Suggested retail
$459.00
Only $389.95
(Special Introductory Price)
286 Ramracer
•Same features of Speedcard
Plus
•Up to 2MB of RAM
•Free print spooler
•Free RAM disk
•EMS and EEMS
compatible
•2 year parts/labor
6 Min
PC XT
O'Base
warranty
Suggested retail
$745.00
Only $595.00 (Basic)
ALPHA SERVICES
229 Gerloff Road
Schwenksville, PA> 19473
(Special Introductory Price)
215-287-9006
Dealer Inquiiiet Welcome
IBM IS a trademark of International Business Machines Corp, 286 Speedcard is a
trademark of Micro V 286 Ramracer is a trademark of PC Technologies
Circle #127 on Reader Service Card
NOT EVERY
HARD DISK
WE RECEIVE
WILL RUN
ON THIS
COMPUTER
ONLY THE HARD DISK DRIVES WE SELL WILL
(the rest go back to the supplier)
Every Drive We Sell Receives 4 Hours of Testing Before You Test It
'RLL Certified
^Includes disk management software.
BEA-SOFT COMPUTERS
(904) 651-9231
BOX 319
SHALIMAR, FL 32579
DRIVE
MINISCRIBE 3438'
MINISCRIBE 3438'
MINISCRIBE 3650^
DRIVE
ONLY
$260
$260
$360
ISO KIT
$330
$360
$450
CAPACITY
20 meg (MEM)
30 meg (RLL)
40 meg (MEM)
Circle #150 on Reader Service Card
Sextant November-December 1987 29
memory. Jupiter is available for IBM
compatibles and the ZlOO, and requires
192K. It costs $99.95 (show price,
$75).
Powerline Systems also offers Coupon,
a program designed to help homemakers
organize their coupons. Mrs. Preusse
claims she saves several dollars a week
using this program. Coupon costs
$29.95.
More visits with vendors
Ecosoft, Inc., was offering its new Eco-
C88 Modeling Compiler (regularly
$99.95); its C-more symbolic debugger
(regularly $49.95); and its computer-
assisted instruction on C, written by Dr.
Jack Purdum, all for only $75. Dr.
Purdum, one of the three people at the
booth, said he thinks the best aspect of
the C88 C compiler is its error-checking
capabilities. This undoubtedly saves the
user a lot of time.
Newline Software is looking a lot differ¬
ent than it did a few years ago. The com¬
pany has closed out its eight-bit line, and
now sells a full supply of IBM-PC-, XT-,
and AT-compatible software and hard¬
ware. Newline’s Ron Rocheleau was of¬
fering his Professional Text Processor,
originally $100, for only $10. He was also
selling Newline’s Professional Spelling
Checker for $10 (originally $50).
The big news for Hilgraeve, Inc., is
that Zenith has proposed that Hyper-
Access be included as part of the Z248
contract with the Air Force. HyperAccess
is Hilgraeve’s communications program
for the ’100 and all PC-compatible
computers. Hilgraeve has just released a
revision of HyperAccess for the 150
and ’200 machines, but not for the
’ 100 .
The PC-compatible revision includes
several important changes, including fast¬
er file transfer; the addition of an ANSI
emulator; availability in SVk" format (for
laptop use); and support of the COM3
serial port.
When the vendor area finally closed on
Friday evening, not all HUG members
went back to their hotel rooms for the
night. Instead, a few dedicated eight-bit
users went to Len Geisler’s hotel room to
discuss their H8s and H89s. Mr. Geisler
is the founder of the Society for Eight-Bit
Heath Computerists (SEBHC), and pub¬
lisher of the SEBHC Journal. He called
the meeting because he is interested in
keeping the experimentalist attitude of
the early eight-bit users alive. I think
he was also interested in showing off
his best eight-bit friend, “Heather,” a
Super H89A.
More chats with the vendors
On Saturday, I had the chance to talk
with Jay Gold of Jay Gold Software about
his new Home Finance HI program. The
data base allows the user to keep records
and track cash flow on up to 100 asset
accounts and 100 credit accounts. This
new version of the Home Finance System
has two advantages: it is much faster than
earlier versions, and it is geared toward
the home user (i.e., it doesn’t use a lot of
difficult accounting jargon).
I next went over to the booth shared by
New Orleans General Data Services and
Micro Doc. NOGDS was offering version
2.1 of Flexi-Graph, its graphics program
for the ZlOO and Zenith’s IBM compat¬
ibles. This latest version of Flexi-Graph
supports color EGA and comes with a
new programmer’s reference manual.
Fred Pospeschil of Micro Doc was
showing displays from the Micro World
Data Bank H. This map data base has
been extracted from the files of the Na¬
tional Technical Information Service. It
lets you display the globe from practically
any point of view. That was fortunate for
Sextant, because we wanted a map show¬
ing part of Ganada’s Northwest Territo¬
ries. (See page 13 of this issue and
“Supplier Notes,” Sextant #29, May-June
1987.) Micro Doc sells this public domain
software package for $10.
George Sellers of Gomputer Gon-
sultants to Business had his whole family
at his booth. The company was selling a
number of products, including the Goor-
dinator System software package. The
system is designed to help businesspeo¬
ple communicate with their associates
either by modem or by network.
The Goordinator System is an organiz¬
er of sorts, as it contains a daily calendar.
CHUGCON SPECIAL f
ONLY 49.95!
This year we are making our $49.95
CHUGCON show special price for
Perks and Perks-PC available to our
mail order customers nationwide.
Offer applies only to mail orders for
Perks and Perks-PC (reg. $69.95)
which include payment in full
(check) with the order. Offer expires
12/31/87 and does not apply to PO’s,
COD or credit card orders, etc.
Please add $4.00 S&H, Michigan
residents please add 4% sales tax also.
Send order with payment to:
Barry A. Watzman
560 Sunset Rd.
Benton Harbor, Mi. 49022
(616) 925-3136
Circle #205 on Reader Service Card
Use this issue’s
Reader Service Cards
to get
FREE
INFORMATION
from Sextant advertisers.
When you see an ad for a product
you’re interested in, circle the ad’s
Reader Service Number on the
postage-paid card at page 46. When
you mail in the card, we’ll tell our
advertisers you’ve asked for more
information. It’s a great way to find
out more about the hardware,
software, and peripherals you need
to improve your system. Take
advantage of the Sextant Reader
Service Cards today!
30 Sextant November-December 1987
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Inlliilliiin"'*
Your computer can do a lot for you—
if you have the support you need.
One source of support thousands of
Heath/Zenith users rely upon is
Sextant magazine—the only
independent magazine about your
Heath/Zenith computer. Whether you
use an H/Z200, H/Z150, H/Z100,
H/Z89, or H8, you’ll find articles in
every issue that apply to your system.
You can explore MS-DOS, Z-DOS,
CP/M, and HDOS in Sextant.
Applications, programs, compatible
hardware and software, and the latest
developments in the Heath/Zenith
community are among the topics
covered in every issue of Sextant.
Regular features include:
“How-to” articles. Designed to help
you enhance your system. Read how
other users have altered their
systems to suit their needs—and how
you can too.
YOU
NEED
SEXTANT
Reviews of products from Zenith
and independent suppliers. Written
to help answer your questions about
hardware and software purchases
you’re considering.
Short program listings. These
include utility programs and games,
which you can use immediately.
Advertising by independent
suppliers. You’ll find many products
advertised for your Heath/Zenith
system that you just won’t find
anywhere else.
Coverage of community affair s.
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conferences, and personalities in the
Heath/Zenith user community, and
what effect they could have on you.
Don’t miss all the information
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J
and keeps records of telephone con¬
versations. It also provides access to
reports and other important documents.
Mr.* Sellers also had an Epson Image
Scanning device that interfaces with the
Epson EXIOOO, EX800, and LQ2500
printers. To use the device, you just take
out the printer ribbon and replace it with
the scanning head. Then you roll a pic¬
ture through the printer (as you would
any other piece of paper), and the scanner
will read the picture. Mr. Sellers was
offering the image-scanning device for
$250.
True to its name. Public Brand Soft¬
ware was offering a full line of public
domain and user-supported software, at
only $5 a disk. The company’s 67-page
catalogue features word processing,
communications, and graphics packages,
in addition to a number of other
programs.
At the D-G Electronics booth, you
could find Bruce Denton—when he
wasn’t leading one of the three “Hard¬
ware ‘Bull’ Sessions for Old and New
Computer Users.” D-G was one of the
first companies to provide add-on boards
for the H8 and then for the ’89. Current¬
ly, though, they mostly do custom design
and consulting. (Bruce said that D-G
still keeps older boards in stock; so if
you’ve wondered about upgrading your
older equipment, it might be good to
check.)
Hero 1® Programming
The Best Way!
Hero 1®- IBM Development System
Includes:
Cross Assembler/Compiler
Interactive Debugger
Requires:
IBM compatible with 256K RAM
Hero® serial interface and 1.3 ROM
Features:
• 9600 baud serial communications
• Macro library for Robot Language
• High level 6800 Assembler with:
-IF...THEN...ELSE...ENDIF
-FOR...NEXT
-WHILE...END WHILE
—Function Calls
• Debug on PC screen with symbolic
disassembly, breakpoints, and
single-step
• Demo programs and tutorials
Costs:
AssempileU^6800 $ 99.00
Symbolic Debugger $ 29.00
Both for: $ 119.00
Free Shipping
Illinois residents add 8% sales tax.
Order and Info:
Zyzx, Inc. P.O. Box 4194
Arlington Heights, IL 60006
312-870-0938
Assempiler is a trademark af Zyzx, Inc.
Hero is a trademark of Heath Electronics.
IBM is a trademark of IBM Corporation.
Circle #237 on Reader Service Card
Heath's product lines
The HUGGON discussion groups were
held all day Saturday and the first half of
Sunday. Eight or so different discussion
groups went on during each 90-minute
time slot. It was difficult to decide among
the many alternatives, even though some
of the talks were offered more than once.
I decided to spend Saturday morning at
the “Heath Gompany’s Product-Line
Managers’ Presentation.” Wayne Wilson,
product-line manager for Heath’s weath¬
er, TV, and amateur-radio division,
started things off by telling us about
what’s new in his department.
Wilson was pleased to announce that
Heath has made its kits a lot easier to
assemble than in the past. For one thing,
the little, easily lost parts are now put
ZDS anticipates that
40,000 students will
graduate with Zenith
machines next year.
together on a “lead tape” in order of their
assembly. Furthermore, most of the com¬
plicated boards now come pre-assem-
bled, and the manuals have been divided
into sections to allow the kitbuilder to
concentrate on only one circuit board at a
time. Wilson said Heath has also tried to
eliminate, whenever possible, the need
to use test equipment. All in all, the new
improved kits are intended to replace
tedium with fun kitbuilding.
Heath’s brand-new terminal node con¬
troller, The Pack-Kit Multi-Mode TNG,
allows the amateur-radio enthusiast to
connect a computer to radio equipment
to get into packet radio—computer
networking on the air. Wilson said the
packet radio can pick up weather facsim¬
iles—weather maps the computer can
print out on a dot-matrix printer. With
the packet radio, a Heath/Zenith comput¬
er user can communicate with other hams
fairly easily. In fact, according to Wilson,
using the packet radio is a lot like using
GompuServe, except that you don’t have
to pay each time you use it. The system
may be used with any modem communi¬
cations package, and is capable of receiv¬
ing Morse code, radio teletypewriter, and
other code.
Denton Bramwell, Heath’s product¬
line manager for kit computers and kit
instruments, proudly spoke of Heath’s
new IG-IOOI Logic Analyzer for testing
digital circuits. Bramwell had seen a
competitor’s logic analyzer advertised for
$1,150 (Heath’s costs $269), and said the
competitor’s product was “the same as
ours, only maybe not as good.” (See
“Supplier Notes,” Sextant #30, Septem-
ber-October 1987)
Bramwell was, understandably, also
very proud of the H386, the kit version of
the Z386. HUGGON was the H386’s first
public showing. The computer’s 80386
microprocessor works at 16 MHz, a no¬
ticeable improvement over other CPUs.
The ’386 comes standard with 1-MB
RAM and a video board. The kit was
being sold at HUGGON for $3,349, and is
fairly easy to build.
Bramwell said his department is very
interested in developing future products
for the kit line. He asked HUGGON
attendees whether they would be inter¬
ested in buying a powerful portable com¬
puter kit, and he received an enthusiastic
response. HUGgies also expressed inter¬
est in a flat-tension-mask monitor kit for
$750 (assembled monitors sell for almost
$1,000), so if these products come out on
the market soon, you’ll know why.
Next, we heard from Jim Wilson,
product-line manager for educational
systems. Wilson told us a bit about the
new EZ-150 troubleshooting computer.
The computer, based on the Z151, was
introduced to schools in July but is not
planned to be released to consumers. The
EZ-150 allows the student to trouble¬
shoot, and learn to become a better
technician. Because the computer must
stand up to constant handling, it was
Attention H/Z PC-Compatible Users!
If you use a ’150, ’200, or other Heath/Zenith computer
compatible with the IBM PC, Sextant would like to hear
from you.
We will soon be conducting a survey of H/Z PC-compatible
users. If you’d like to participate, please
Circle #249 on the Reader Service Card
between pages 46 and 47.
32 Sextant November-December 1987
LINDLEY SYSTEMS
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FILL IN FORMS QUICKLY
FormFiller lets you fill in forms quickly and easily. You get
a professional printout every time. Eliminates positioning
errors common with typewriter entry. Printer output may
redirected to a disk file.
Soft: (DSDD) White box
$7.00
Soft: (DSDD) 3M Highland
$8.00
Soft: (DSHD) (1.2 Meg) 3M
$25.00
Hard: (DSDD) Wabash
$8.00
R± bbons
Ribbon Refills w/Gloves
#7201 Epson MX/FX/RX-80, MPI
»
Star (except Gemini)
$ 3.00
#72011 As above, RED
$ 3.50
#72012 As above, GREEN
$ 3.50
#72013 As above, BLUE
$ 3.50
#7210 Epson MX/FX/RX-100, MPI
(wide carriage)
$ 3.75
#7202 NEC-8023, C.Itoh 8510
$ 2.50
Cartridges
#7203 Epson MX/FX/RX-80
$ 4.75
#7206 Epson MX/FX/RX-100
$ 6.00
#7204 NEC-8023, C.Itoh 8510
$ 5.00
#7207 Diablo Multistrike
$ 3.75
Ribbon Spools
#7205 Star SG/Gemini,0kidata $ 2.50
Please add $2.00 to your ribbon or disk
order for shipping & handling.
FormFiller can be used with any form whose rows and columns
match those of your printer. Use a text editor to create a
file which defines the fields of the form and positions on the
form. This file will also contain the layout of the screen
FormFiller uses when you fill out a form.
Requires MS-DOS version 2 or 3, IBM-PC compatible or Z-100.
Order # 260, $39.95 postpaid.
QDC
The Quick Disk Copy program for your PC. Reads the source disk
into memory, and then allows you to create many copies of that
disk, without re-inserting the source disk. Copies 40 track, 1
or 2 sided, 8 or 9 sector disks. Requires 512 KB RAM. Order #
253, $25.00 postpaid.
Custom
Lindley Systems does custom programming. We have done work for
the Armed Forces, for doctors, and business professionals.
Call for more information.
LINDLEY SYSTEMS 21 Hancock Street
(617) 275-6821 Bedford, MA 01730-1613
Call or Write for our free catalog.
Circle #118 on Reader Service Card
*** LOW LOW PRICES ***
CALL TO ORDER
HARD DRIVES FOR ZENITH PC/XT
Seagate 20MB w/WDclr. $399
Seagate30MB w/WD ctr. $499
Seagate 40MB w/WDctr. $699
HARD DRIVES FOR AT
Seagate 1/2ht 20MB . $359
Seagate 1/2ht40MB . $569
Seagate f/ht 30MB HS . $669
Seagate f/ht 40MB HS . $759
PRINTERS
Epson FX85e $449 FX286e $600
Call for other Models
MATH CO-PROCESSORS
8087-5 $159 8087-8 $199
80287-8 $339 80287-10 $395
IBM COMPATIBLE XT/AT’s
XT from $899 AT from $1,370
ZENITH 159-2 from $1,359
OMNI DATA SYSTEMS, INC.
4 Glendale Road
Attleboro, MA 02703
(617) 222-0425
Circle #201 on Reader Service Card
RECORDS MANAGEMENT
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AND ALL PCs
New JUPITER manages personal informa¬
tion on the Z-100 family and all PC-
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database management program.
THE IDEAL RECORD KEEPER
95 big fields ★ Five-line, worldwide
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Circle #225 on Reader Service Card
Sextant Novemher-Decemher 1987 33
designed to be rugged.
In July, Heath also introduced a new
line of trainers to be used with their
educational courses in electronics, com¬
puters, robotics, and lasers. The new line
includes the Analog Trainer, used in ex¬
perimenting with electronic circuits, and
its expansion module, the Accessory
Backpack. The Analog Trainer comes
with an internal power supply and an
internal, liquid-crystal display (LCD),
digital multimeter.
Wilson also said that he expects a cou¬
ple of new training courses to be released
a few weeks after HUGCON. One of
these courses teaches artificial intelli¬
gence, and the other, already listed in the
Fall 1987 Heath catalogue, is the Micro¬
computer Professor course for beginners.
Mark Witsaman is Heath’s product¬
line manager for computer-based in¬
struments. He spoke about the new logic
analyzer (mentioned above) and the SW-
3000 Computer and SW-3010 Industrial
Monitor. (See “Supplier Notes,” Sextant
#30, September-October 1987.) The
SW-3000 is like the ’248, except that it is
more rugged and can withstand more
vibration and shock.
Ed Quinones told us about Heath’s
Buy-Sell product line. This line covers
products sold by Heath but manufactured
by other vendors.
The Buy-Sell division recently intro¬
duced an exciting new color printer, the
PP3630 ink-jet printer, priced at $1,399.
The printer features 180 dots per inch,
and can print 167 characters per second
and 330 different colors.
Heath will also soon be selling,
for $595, the Intel Above-Board PF-286
(Heath model #PC-4120), which allows
H/Z151 or H/Z200-series owners to up¬
grade their computers. It is expandable to
2 MB. An optional, additional 2-MB pig¬
gyback board is also available.
One other new product in the Buy-Sell
product line is an expansion card for
weather observers. The weather card
works on the H/Z150 and H/Z200 series
computers, and costs $450.
Getting an inside view of
drives
The next lecture I attended was Ron
Hackney’s “Computers for Beginners,” in
which I got to see the insides of a floppy
disk and a disk drive. Hackney, who was
busy explaining how computers work,
passed arcund two disks he had taken
apart. He also passed around an old disk
drive, and we were able to look at how the
drive translates information back and
forth between the disk and the computer.
After leaving the “Computers for Be¬
ginners” talk, I had a chance to stop by
the area where Heath products were be¬
ing sold. HUGCON attendees were
eagerly buying Z181 portable computers,
specially priced at just $1,199. The
Veritechnology folks were also selling ZF-
171-42 portables for just $499.
Bionics for all
Later that afternoon, I was fortunate to
attend a talk on bionics, given by Steve
Greelish of Liberty Mutual Insurance
Company. Greelish works in the biomedi¬
cal engineering division of his company,
and five of the eight members of his work
group are HUG members. He said most
of their engineering work is done on
Heath/Zenith computers.
Greelish is currently working to
develop better emulation of human
limbs—elbow and wrist rotation, for in¬
stance. And he showed us their current
replacements for the human arm.
He said, however, that even with the
best supercomputers, it will not be
possible to emulate the human hand be¬
cause it is simply too complex.
Greelish said his office uses AutoCAD
on an H/ZlOO for engineering and design
simulation. He also uses one H/Z248 for
development with a microcontroller, and
another ’248 does on-screen simulation.
Desktop publishing
I must admit, I was a little envious of
John Roach (of the Capital Heath Users’
Group). I kept running into him in the
vendor area, and I noticed he had his very
own portable computer, which he was
using to take notes for the HUGCON
HOME
FINANCE SYSTEM
VERSION 3
-HFS-III keeps track of multiple checking
accounts, asset accounts, (cash, savings,
IRAs, CDs) and regular bill payments. Prints
checks, including payee address, on any
business-sized check.
— Define up to 100 expense codes. Separate
tax flag.
— Fast. Written in 100% assembly language.
— Pop-up menus and help windows at a
keystroke.
— Frequently used transactions stored for
easy use.
—Accepts HFS-II data.
Hardware: HZ-100, all Heath/Zenith PCs or any other
PC/XT/AT compatible computer (256K), 2 disk drives. Any
printer.
Software: MS-DOS 2 or higher.
Price: $99.00 (includes shipping).
MasterCardA'isa accepted, please include phone
Available in December
Jay Gold Software
Box 2024, Des Moines, IA 50310
(515) 279-9821
Circle #120 on Reader Service Card
PC^KfeaflierPro.
A gift for all seasons.
perature probes, rain gauge and software. It monitors wind speed and direction,
inside and outside temperature, barometric pressure, wind chill factor and
rainfall... all with just ie push of a key on an IBM PC or compatible. They’ll be
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Plus, set alarms to alert them to specific changes. It’s the perfect gift... useful,
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4000 Kruse Way Place 2-120, Lake Oswego, OR 97035
1-800-247-5712 In Oregon, (503) 635-3966
Circle #182 on Reader Service Card
34 Sextant November-December 1987
article he was writing for CHUG’s month¬
ly newsletter. He is always such a
pleasure to be around, though, that I put
aside my envy and enjoyed his company
instead.
Late in the afternoon, I attended John’s
lecture on “Desktop Publishing.” He de¬
voted a good portion of his time to talking
about how Sextant Publishing Company
produces its magazine, using the Page-
Planner page-makeup system and a lot of
elbow grease. He explained not only how
Sextant's technical editor John Walker
uses Watchword from S & K Technology
to edit incoming articles, but also how
John Gill and the rest of the production
department plan and paste up the maga¬
zine.
Later, we were told how CHUG puts
out its newsletter using PageMaker. It
seems that putting together the news¬
letter is not an easy job, but PageMaker is
certainly a helpful tool. For example,
PageMaker’s “toolbox” may be used for
cropping and for drawing boxes, circles,
and other shapes. PageMaker also sup¬
ports Hewlett-Packard’s plotting lan¬
guage. PageMaker is a good tool for com¬
bining graphics and text in a newsletter
format.
This last lecture was an interesting and
informative way to end the day. By the
time it was over, those of us at the lecture
had just enough time to go back to our
hotel rooms and catch the end of the
White Sox game before returning for Sat¬
urday night’s banquet.
''Whafs New in Three-Two""
Sunday morning brought with it Bill
Adney’s discussion of “What’s New in
Three-Two” (MS-DOS version 3.2). Mr.
Adney explained some changes repre¬
sented in this new version of MS-DOS.
The changes include: ten new commands;
a new device driver; some new enhance¬
ments to older utilities; some changes in
system performance with a hard disk; and
some new Zenith-specific hard-disk
commands. (Bill Adney’s FlipFast Guide
to MS-DOS, published in August 1987,
covers these changes in detail.)
Brushing off the lint
As the conference began to wind down.
Bob Gray of Graymatter Application
Software had an “I-Don’t-Want-To-Ship-
It-Home Sale,” and offered 20% discounts
on all his modems. Graymatter offers a
number of upgrades for Heath/Zenith
computers at reasonable prices. Jim
Buszkiewicz of the Heath Users’ Group
finished things off by giving away a num¬
ber of last-minute door prizes.
After we packed up all of our
belongings at the Sextant Publishing
Gompany booth and left the vendor area,
we noticed a bag full of lint hanging from
one of the bulletin boards in the main
hall. Next to the bag, there was a sign that
read, “Genuine HUGGON floor lint—10
cents.” Although some of us may have
been tempted to get this one last souvenir
of the last International HUGGON, the
bag remained untouched. After a week¬
end of reckless spending, I guess nobody
had 10 cents left.
Additional Information
The FlipFast Guide to Zenith/Heath
MS-DOS, $24.95; add $2.50 shipping
and handling per order.
Sextant Publishing Gompany
Dept. S31
716 E Street, S.E.
Washington, DG 20003
The SEBHC Journal, Subscriptions,
$ 15/year in the U.S., Ganada, and
Mexico; $25/year overseas.
895 Starwick Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
313/662-0750 Eastern time
>CHUG newsletter. Membership, $15
in the U.S.; $28 foreign/Ganadian.
Gapital Heath Users’ Group
P.O. Box 16406
Arlington, VA 22215-1406
The Staunch 8/89'er. Subscriptions,
$5/year.
2024 Sampson St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15221 A
If You Don’t Have WindowDOS 2.0,
You’re Wasting Time!!
Once you’ve experienced the convenience of instant access to DOS commands, you’ll never
be satisfied with returning to DOS to list files, format diskettes, or copy, rename, or erase files. Nor
will you be happy with a DOS shell, because shell programs are just as inaccessible as DOS when
you are using an application program. Oniy one program combines memory-residency with
the power of a fuii-featured disk manager: WindowDOS Version 2.0.
Features Not Found In DOS
♦Sort directories in 8 ways
♦Copy, erase, or move groups of
files
♦ Find any file in seconds
♦ Display default directory of any
drive with a single keystroke
♦Global copy & erase commands
♦Copyfunction prorrptsyouto insert
another disk if necessary
♦ Display hidden files/subdirectories
♦ Display file contents in various
formats and page forward/
backward
♦ Display graphic tree
♦Unique RAM Environment function
shows name, size, location, and
interrupts of every program in
memory
♦ Rename subdirectories for instant
reorganization
♦ Hide & unhide subdirectories
♦See & change file attributes
♦Send control codes to printer
♦Switch default printer
♦ Password “lock” your system
♦ 5-minute screen-blanking function
Enhances These DOS Functions
♦ Format disks (faster than DOS)
♦ Make or erase subdirectories
♦Copy, rename, or erase files
♦Copy files to printer or COM ports
♦ Display disk free space
Other Information
♦ Not copy protected
♦ Uses only 51K of memory
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WindowDOS Associates • Box 300488-B • Arlington, Tx 76010 • 817-467-4103
Circle #188 on Reader Service Card
Sextant Novemher-Decemher 1987 35
Cramolin Cleans
Computer Contacts
Here's a solution for computer glitches.
Gerald G. Cramm
In my many years as a military techni¬
cian, one of my most frequently per¬
formed and least desirable jobs is the
maintenance of thousands of contacts
connecting the various circuits in a piece
of equipment. Maintaining contacts re¬
quires removing each printed wiring
board; cleaning the contacts with a soft,
Pink Pearl eraser; wiping the contacts
with a clean cloth dipped in technical-
grade alcohol; and re-installing the board
when the contacts have dried.
The primary reason for this procedure
is to prevent—or at least to slow—the
formation of an insidious green fungus
that grows on everything except hot ce¬
ramic surfaces. If left to itself, the fungus
will eventually impede the signal flow,
causing, among other things, unpredict¬
able computer system crashes.
This cleaning also aids in spotting early
problems with the system.
More often than not, while this dis¬
agreeable task is being done, a co-worker
will say, “You know, at my last duty station
we had this stuff that you could wipe
onto an electrical contact that would clean
the contacts and make the signals flow
better!”
The solution revealed
Well, after all these years, I have dis¬
covered that there actually is a magic
elixir that aids the conduction of electrical
signals across contacts.
I have used it on my H89 and on many
other computers for some time now. It is
readily available to every frustrated com¬
puter user.
Its official name is “Cramolin.” That
trademark identifies an entire series of
products developed by CAIG Laborato¬
ries, in Escondido, California. The prod¬
ucts range from liquids to sprays to
pastes, in various strengths depending on
the specific application. And there are
Gerald G. Cramm has fought system
crashes in his H8 and H89. (Any
similarity between his name and the
name of the product he discusses—
“Cramolin”—is purely coincidental.)
varieties of Cramolin specifically de¬
signed to clean excessively dirty contacts,
preserve the contacts from further degra¬
dation, reduce contact resistance, and
promote the passage of signals across
electrical contacts.
Tm not trained as an electrical or
chemical engineer, so I don’t necessarily
understand all of the properties attribut¬
ed to Cramolin; but I can quote from
Service Bulletin SB-IR put out by the
company:
“Cramolin has the property of orient¬
ing its molecules on metal surfaces,
which guarantees an electrical resistance
which is low enough to give excellent
contact transmission and high enough to
avoid any short circuits.
“Cramolin has excellent migration
characteristics. If a plug is coated with
Cramolin and inserted into the socket, it
will migrate to the socket’s surface, clean¬
ing it in a similar fashion. Insertion of the
connectors will push the dissolved debris
out of the way. . . .”
Cramolin Red
I have used only one of these many
products on my H89 computer—Cramo¬
lin Red Liquid.
All I have to do is dip a Q-Tip into a
small bottle of Cramolin Red, wipe it
across the accessible pins for each of the
many sets of contacts in my H89, and then
swab off the excess with a dry Q-Tip.
Reconnection of the two mating surfaces
will transfer Cramolin to the otherwise
inaccessible surface and promote conduc¬
tion of the required signals.
I have not confined my use of Cramolin
to sets of connector pins, either. The
liquid works equally well between the
contacts of integrated-circuit chips and
the pins of their marginally adequate
sockets on the terminal-logic and pro¬
cessor boards of my H89/90 computer. It
also works on the connector pins for the
serial and parallel peripherals, and I’ve
even applied it to the connections on my
disk drives.
The results have been extremely suc¬
cessful: previously unexplainable system
“crashes” have been rendered non¬
existent.
Every time I turn on my computer, it
works without fault. Aside from taking
the normal precautions, I haven’t done
anything else that I know of towards re¬
solving these glitches. So, I can only
reasonably attribute this new-found com¬
puter reliability to having used Cramolin.
Ifs not a panacea
It must be noted here, however, that I
am a staunch advocate of the use of
power-line protection. I do not consider
power-line disturbances to be unexplain¬
able occurrences.
You may not have installed surge sup¬
pressors and other common passive pro¬
tection devices on the power line to your
computer and to its peripherals. If so,
start with those procedures first.
If power-line protection has been in¬
stalled and unexplained system crashes
still occur, my experience has proven
that Cramolin is the answer to these
problems.
But it works
I now have an H89 computer without
glitches. I can edit an umpteen-thou-
sand-word newsletter, or this article,
with the calm feeling that it will not have
to be saved every hundred words.
As a matter of fact, I have gotten so
confident, that, on occasion, I have left
the computer running with a disk in¬
serted in the drive and gone out to eat
dinner with the family—certain that my
file and disk and system would be intact
when I returned!
My computer works—all of the time.
Does yours?
Ordering Information
Cramolin Red, 2 fluid ounces, $11.95;
$5 service charge if less than $50 order.
CAIG Laboratories, Inc.
1175-0 Industrial Avenue
P.Q Box J
Escondido, CA 92025-0051
619/743-7143 A
36 Sextant November-December 1987
Order Eco-C88 Rel. 4.0 New Modeling Compiler
and get C-more at no extra charge!
Seek and Correct
You already know that fast compilation does not mean fast program development. Backing
up for bogus error messages and removing the bugs takes time. Eco-C88’s “Seek and Correct”
three - way error checking finds even the most elusive bugs, clearing the path for swift program
development.
Double Barrel Error Checking
Eco-C88 nails syntax errors cold and tells you about the error in plain
English. And there’s no avalanche of false error messages, either. Other
compilers can generate up to four times the number of error messages
actually present; they leave it up to you to guess which ones are
real. You’ll be more productive with Eco-C88 because there is no
guess work.
Eco-C88 provides ten levels of semantic error checking. You can
select from almost no checking to the fussiest you’ve ever seen.
Eco-C88’s “picky flag” finds subtle errors that slip by
other compilers.
Eco-CSS also features:
• All data types, plus ANSI Enhancements
• Robust library, including many new ANSI
functions
• CED editor with online function help, split
windows, compile-edit-link capability
• New, expanded manual with sample pro¬
grams for the library functions
C-more Source Code
Debugger
Finally, if a really nasty bug persists,
put C-more, our source code debug¬
ger, to work. With C-more you can
watch your program as it executes,
single-step it, set simple or conditional
breakpoints, test complex expressions,
use variables as indexes into other vari¬
ables, initialize and trace variables, examine
CPU registers, display results with printff)-
type options and much more. C-more can help
you track down bugs in minutes rather than days.
The price for Eco-C88 is $99.95. And, for a
iimited time, we’il give you our C-more debugger
at no extra charge.
Ecosof t Inc.
6413 N. College Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46220
(317) 255-6476 (Tech Info)
(800) 952-0472 (Orders)
Circle #215 on Reader Service Card
CHECK OUR NEW
LOW HARD DISK
PRICES
PAYLOAD
COMPUTER SERVICES
FINAL Z-100 SOFTWARE
CLOSE OUT
The Zenith Laptop computer now runs at 8 Meg. The ZFL-181 has been top rated by every article we’ve seen. It’s a
true winner in every respect. Please MAIL or PHONE your order today and expect prompt service. MASTERCARD and
VISA gladly accepted with no additional charge.
ZENITH SOFTWARE FOR THE
Z-100 SERIES COMPUTERS
Zenith packages with software, manuals and registration cards for
the original Z-100 computer series (not for the IBM compatibles).
PART
LIST
SALE
NUMBER
DESCRIPTION
PRICE
PRICE
MS-463-1
Z-Basic (16 bit)
interpreter
$175.00
$10.00
MS-463-7
Multiplan
$196.00
$10.00
CB-463-11
Z-Chart
$150.00
$10.00
CD-463-2
Condor File Manager
$299.00
$10.00
PK-100-4
All 4 listed above
$819.00
$38.00
MS-253-1
Microsoft
BASIC-80 (8-bit)
$175.00
$10.00
OS-53-2
CP/M-85 (8 bit)
$150.00
$15.00
OS-63-4
Z-DOS
$150.00
$20.00
CB-463-9
PECON Peachtree to
Condor
$99.00
$15.00
RS-463-5
Peachtree Inventory
Management
$499.00
SOLD
WI-463-1
Remote Batch
Terminal Emulator
$899.00
SOLD
itit'k
ZENITH SOFTWARE FOR THE if it it
Z-150/160 SERIES COMPUTERS
PART
LIST
SALE
NUMBER
DESCRIPTION
PRICE
PRICE
LEXISOFT
Spellbinder
$495.00
$292.00
LEXISOFT
Desktop Publisher
$695.00
$445.00
BP-5063-8
BPI Personal Accounting
$195.00
$55.00
SR-B410
DS BACKUP (hard disk)
$70.00
$62.50
SR-4500
Norton Utilities 4.0
$99.00
$69.00
SR-3950
dBase III plus
$695.00
$479.00
SR-4100
DAC EASY Accounting
$69.00
$62.00
SR-3090
LOTUS 123
$499.00
$389.00
OS-463-41
MS-DOS 3.2
$149.00
$108.00
CB-5063-28
DIAGNOSTICS
$79.00
$59.00
ZENITH SOFTWARE FOR THE ★★★
H/Z-89 SERIES COMPUTERS
PART LIST SALE
NUMBER DESCRIPTION PRICE PRICE
HES-837-1 Microstat {96TPI) $249.00 SOLD
HCP-837-1 Pearl #3 Program $450.00 $15.00
Generator (96 TPI,
Requires C-BASIC)
SC-837-1 SuperCalc $195.00 $40.00
★ ★★ ZENITH MONITORS ★★★
ZVM-135 Color 13" High Res. RGB/Composite.$475.00
ZVM-1330 Color 13" High Res., RGB only.$497.00
ZVM-1220 Amber Non-Glare Flat Screen.$169.00
ZVM-1230 Green Non-Glare Flat Screen.$169.00
ZVM-1240 Amber Flat Screen TTL input.$192.00
ZVM-1200 Tilt Swivel Base .$17.00
ZVM-1380 EGA Color 13".$615.00
MITSUBISHI CGA Color.$366.00
MITSUBISHI EGA Color.$449.00
ZENITH IBM COMPATIBLE COMPUTERS ★★★
Z-159-12 Two 360K floppy disk drives, 256K RAM, EGA video. Retail
$1899. Payload . $1559.00
Z-159-13 As above but with 20 MEG Winchester Drive and one floppy
disk drive. Retail $2499. Payload. $1949.00
ZFL-171-42 PORTABLE with Backlighted LCD screen, 256K RAM,
two 1/3 heigh 36oK disk drives, ROM based software. Approx. 14.3 lbs.
Retail $1999.00. Payload . $1589.00
ZFL-181-93 LAPTOP PORTABLE with the amazing Supertwist LCD
backlit screen 640K RAM, two 720K 3.5" disk drives, clock, P & S Ports,
8 MEG. Retail $2399.00. Payload. $1739.00
ZF-248-81 AT Compatible with one 1.2 MEG Floppy Disk Drive,
512K RAM, 8 Mhz, 0 Wait States. Retail $2999.00, Payload $2191.00.
Requires Z-329 or Z-409 Video Card listed below.
ZW-284-82 AT Compatible with ail above plus EGA Color Card, one
20 MEG 85 ms Hard Disk Drive. Retail $3699.00, Payload $2962.00
ZW-248-84 AT Compatible with EGA Color Card and all above plus
one 40 MEG 30 ms Hard Disk In place of 20 MEG Drive. Retail $4499.00
Payload.$3441.00
All above come with MS-DOS supplied Zenith. Payload charges
only $5.00 for shipping of prepaid orders. We can enhance the above
computers with more memory or larger winchester drives at low costs
to you.
★ ★★ UPGRADE ACCESSORIES FOR Z-150/160
SERIES COMPUTERS
SmartWatch from FBE Research. Installs in ROM Socket on CPU
Board in Zenith computer series Z-100/150/158/160. This tiny jewel
of a product contains a ten year battery and keeps your computer
Informed of both time and date at each boot-up. Complete Instruc¬
tions and software included.$44.00
MEMORY KIT #150-256-18. Includes a ZPAL chip which allows use
of 256K RAM chips Included (18 pieces 256K 150 ns RAM chips). Kit
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Sextant November-December 1987 39
Standard Operating Procedure
edlin: An MS-DOS
Lifeboat
Ifyouve got MS-DOS, youve got EDLIN. Heres how to use this simple
line editor.
William M. Adney
EDLIN is the line editor supplied with
the Microsoft Disk Operating System
(MS-DOS). It’s quite easy to learn. It is
limited, but it can be extremely useful for
small editing jobs for which the power of
a word processor or programming editor
is simply not needed.
I use EDLIN for editing nearly all my
batch files, and for doing other small jobs
such as changing the system-configura¬
tion file, CONFIG.SYS.
For many of you, however, perhaps the
most important fact about EDLIN is sim¬
ply that it should come with any version
of MS-DOS, for any computer. Have you
ever had to use someone else’s computer,
where you didn’t have access to a familiar
word processor? If so, it was probably a
nuisance to perform even very simple
tasks, such as creating a small text file or
reading a file already on disk.
In such a situation, EDLIN can be your
“lifeboat”—limited, but invaluable. And
in this regard, EDLIN is well worth learn¬
ing about just because it’s so simple to
use. Moreover, you’ll be able to keep
EDLIN handy without worrying that you
may be wasting valuable space on disk:
version 2, for instance, weighs in at just
8,080 bytes.
The information in this article applies
to all Heath/Zenith computers that run
MS-DOS—both the ZlOO and the IBM
compatibles. It also applies to virtually
all versions of Heath/Zenith’s MS-DOS —
including the Zenith Disk Operating Sys¬
tem (Z-DOS), Zenith’s ZlOO implemen¬
tation of MS-DOS version 1. The infor¬
mation applies equally well to IBM s PC-
DOS. (Some EDLIN subcommands were
added in the release that came with MS-
William N. Adney is a faculty member
at the University of Texas at Arlington.
He’s a computer systems consultant,
and the author of two FlipFast Guides
for MS-DOS, and one for CPIM.
DOS 2; I’ll indicate these as we go along.)
I tested the information in this article
on my HlOO and H248 systems. For the
HlOO, I used Zenith’s MS-DOS version
3.10 with lO.SYS 3.00. For the H248, I
used Zenith’s MS-DOS version 3.20 with
BIOS (ibmbio.COM) version 3.29.
In the previous issue of Sextant, I
looked at the use of your computer’s func¬
tion keys for editing MS-DOS command
As you learn to use
the function keys,
you’re also learning to
use EDLIN.
lines. (See “Editing MS-DOS Command
Lines —Easily ” in Sextant #30, Septem-
ber-October 1987.) The F3 key, for in¬
stance, will copy to the screen the entire
command line that MS-DOS last exe¬
cuted. Fl will step through the characters
one by one. (See the previous article for a
complete list of the function keys and
their uses.)
These keys let you edit MS-DOS’s
command-line buffer. In proper MS-
DOS terminology, that’s the template.
The important point here is that, as you
learn to use the function keys, you’re also
learning to use EDLIN. The function keys
are EDLIN ’s substitute for the cursor con¬
trols in more sophisticated text editors.
Using EDLIN in ten minutes
To illustrate the use of EDLIN, let’s
create a simple batch file, START.bat. It
will consist of the following command
lines:
DATE
TIME
To make things easy, create the file on
the current drive. If we assume that you
are in drive A:, you would enter the fol¬
lowing command line:
EDLIN START.BAT
EDLIN will then inform you that you are
creating a new file; following that, you
will get the asterisk (*), or star prompt, as
it is sometimes called.
The entire display is as follows:
A>EDLIN START.BAT
New file
*_
By itself at the left margin, the star (*)
is EDLIn’s command prompt. In the ex¬
ample above, I have shown the cursor
position by means of the underline
character.
Now let’s create the file; type I (Insert
subcommand), followed by a RETURN.
Your display should look like this:
A> EDLIN START.BAT
New file
*I
1 :*_
The 1 followed by the colon is the line
number. Lines are automatically num¬
bered by EDLIN, and the colon is used as a
separator. Following a line number, the
asterisk (*) indicates that this is the
current line number. (I’ll discuss this
below.) The cursor (as shown) is ready for
input.
Now enter the DATE and TIME lines as
shown above. If you make any mistakes,
use the BACKSPACE key to erase charac¬
ters, then type in the correct ones. Press
RETURN at the end of each line.
Your display should now look like the
following:
A>EDLIN START.BAT
New file
*I
1:*DATE
2:*TIME
3:*
If you wanted, you could keep on add¬
ing new lines of text. But we do not want
to enter any data on line 3. To exit back to
40 Sextant November-December 1987
the EDLIN star prompt, all you need to do
is press CTRL-C.
To review the input data, you can use
the List subcommand: at the star prompt,
type an L followed by a RETURN. This will
display all the lines in your file, and show
you their line numbers.
To save the data, type an E (End
subcommand), and press RETURN. EDLIN
will exit, the START.BAT file will be saved,
and you will see the MS-DOS command
prompt. If you followed these steps cor¬
rectly, you should have seen the fol¬
lowing:
A>EDLIN START.BAT
New file
*I
1:*DATE
2:*TIME
3:* ^ C
*L
1: DATE
2: TIME
*E
A>_
That’s all there is to using EDLIN to
write a new file. Calling EDLIN START.BAT,
we invoked EDLIN and directed it to open
the START.BAT file on disk. Then the Insert
(l) subcommand told EDLIN we wanted to
create new lines of text. We added text to
the file, then exited the Insert mode with
CTRL-C, and reviewed the entire file with
the List (l) subcommand. Then we used
the End (e) subcommand both to
write the file to disk and to exit
EDLIN.
Now that you generally know how to
create a file, we can look at some
additional details of EDLIN and its
subcommands.
Using the EDLIN command
You can invoke EDLIN with a command
in the following form:
EDLIN [d:][\path]<FILENAME.EXT>
(Here, and in the other command lines
I’ll give, the square brackets indicate
what is optional.)
Whenever you invoke the EDLIN com¬
mand, you must include a file name on
the command line. If you do not include a
file name on the command line, then
EDLIN will display the “File name must
be specified” error message and return
you to the MS-DOS prompt.
As with many commands, you can
precede the file name with an optional
drive letter (d:) and path name (\path).
MS-DOS version 3.2 also provides the
optional /B switch, typed at the end of the
command. This will allow you to edit
binary files (.COM or .EXE files). (Among
other things, specifying /B directs EDLIN
to read CTRL-Z simply as an individual
character, rather than treating it as the
end-of-file marker.) I have not found that
option to be at all useful, and it is
recommended only for advanced users.
Limitations
After having said that EDLIN was easy, I
should also point out that it is limited.
The above example shows you where
EDLIN is most likely to come in handy: a
very short job, one where you’re not like¬
ly to make many errors, and where it isn’t
inconvenient just to backspace and retype
to correct any mistakes you do make.
And if you’re cramped for disk space,
8,080 bytes is a small price to pay for an
“emergency” editor.
But once you move beyond those
“quickie” jobs, you will come up against
EDLIn’s limitations. Basically, editing
under EDLIN is going to be as convenient
and as limited as writing a command line
at the MS-DOS prompt.
Perhaps the most important limitation
is that the cursor-control arrow keys can¬
not be used. (The left arrow will act just
like the BACKSPACE, erasing characters as
it moves.)
Not having the arrow keys means that
we will need some other way to step
through a line, and some other way to
move up and down to the various lines
within a file.
The limitations of EDLIN are not insur¬
mountable, however. You might want to
regard EDLIN as a sort of lifeboat: you
won t want to take any ocean voyages with
it; but it’s nice to know it’s there in case of
an emergency.
Inserting text into an existing file
Let’s return to the START.BAT file exam¬
ple and decide that we want to enter a
PROMPT command in the form of:
PROMPT $P $Q$Q$G
This command will produce an MS-
DOS command-line prompt consisting of
the current drive letter, a space, two
equal signs, and a greater-than sign. (If
you want more information on PROMPT,
you might look at my article “How to Use
PROMPT on the ’100 and 150. ” See Sextant
#21, March-April 1986.)
Start EDLIN with the file name as usual,
and your display should be:
A>EDLIN START.BAT
End of input file
*_
Because you are editing an existing
file, EDLIN displays the message “End of
input file”. That means that EDLIN has
loaded the contents of the entire file into
memory.
List the file contents with the L sub¬
command, and your entire display should
look like:
A>EDLIN START.BAT
End of input file
*L
1:*DATE
2: TIME
*_
Notice that EDLIN has displayed your
file with an asterisk (*), or star, on line 1.
As I said earlier, the star following a line
number indicates the current line num¬
ber. I will discuss how to use that in a
minute, but first let’s use a variation of
the Insert (l) subcommand to insert the
PROMPT command as line 3. At the EDLIN
command prompt, simply enter 3l (insert
line 3); your screen should then look like:
A>EDLIN START.BAT
End of input file
*L
1:*DATE
2: TIME
*3l
3:*_
On line 3, now type the command line
PROMPT $P $Q$Q$G
and press RETURN. EDLIN will then dis¬
play the next line number (line 4). Enter a
CTRL-C to return to the EDLIN command
prompt, and your screen should now look
like:
A>EDLIN START.BAT
End of input file
*L
1:*DATE
2: TIME
*3l
3:*PR0MPT $P $Q$Q$G
4:* C
*_
Whenever you are about to exit back to
the EDLIN command prompt, I recom¬
mend that you always use the List (l)
subcommand so that you can see exactly
where you are in the file.
What if you had wanted to put the
PROMPT line above DATE or TIME? No
problem —you could simply have typed ll
or 2l instead of 3l. That would not have
typed over the original line. The lines
after your new line would have been
renumbered. This operation is usually
called dynamic line numbering.
Editing a line
Now let’s assume that you are not going
to want the command prompt to display
the equal signs ($Q parameter). You now
need to edit line 3. To do so, all you need
to do is enter 3 at the EDLIN command
prompt.
If you did not enter the L subcom¬
mand, your display will now be:
A>EDLIN START.BAT
End of input file
*L
1:*DATE
2: TIME
*3l
3:*PR0MPT $P $Q$Q$G
4:* ^ C
*3
3:*PR0MPT $P $Q$Q$G
3:*_
Notice that line 3 appears twice. Typ¬
ing that 3 took you to the beginning of
line 3. EDLIN is waiting to see what you
will do with the line.
To step through the line, use the FI
(copy one character) key. (You could fig¬
ure out ways to use the other function
keys, but FI is the most straightforward.)
Press the Fl key repeatedly until your
cursor is positioned just before the first
$Q parameter. Press the DEL key (F4 on
the ZlOO) four times to skip the four
characters $Q$Q; then press F3 to copy out
the rest of the line. Now press RETURN to
go back to the EDLIN command prompt.
Sextant November-December 1987 41
Here, things have worked much as if
you were at the MS-DOS command line.
If you had pressed Fl twice, and then hit
RETURN, line 3 would have contained only
those first two characters. EDLIN treats
the line you are editing just as if it were
the MS-DOS command line: it stores in
the template only what is there when you
finally type RETURN. If you had typed a
RETURN at the star prompt at the very
beginning of line 3, you would have
erased the entire line.
After all that work, let’s say we decide
that we really don’t want to add the
PROMPT command to our file. All you have
to do is enter Q (Quit subcommand) at
the EDLIN command prompt and press
RETURN. Because this will not save any
changes you made during the edit ses¬
sion, EDLIN will display the “Abort edit
(Y/N)?” message. If you type a Y and
RETURN, EDLIN will exit to the MS-DOS
command prompt; all changes made in
that editing session will be lost. If you
type an N, you will stay at the EDLIN star
prompt with the file still active.
By the way, don’t forget the difference
between inserting a line and editing a
line. Typing 3l at the star prompt, for
example, allows you to insert a new line 3;
3 alone lets you edit the line that current¬
ly has that number.
At this point, you know enough to use
EDLIN effectively. In this section, we cov¬
ered how to edit an existing file; use line
numbers to edit an existing line; insert a
new line in a file; and abandon changes
made to a file.
Notice above how we got around the
lack of any cursor-control arrows.
To go up or down in a file, we have to
give EDLIN a specific line number. That
brings us to the very beginning of that
line. To step through that line, we use the
same function keys that we would use on
the MS-DOS command line. The same is
true if we had wanted to insert or delete
some characters.
But what if you had overstepped the
point where you wished to insert or de¬
lete characters?
There, we face one of EDLlN s limits.
There is no equivalent to simply moving
the cursor to the left. The left arrow and
the BACKSPACE key will erase any new
characters that you have typed in;
RETURN will erase the undisplayed part of
the line. Instead, you can hit ESC (SHIFT-
FO on the ’100) to go back to the beginning
of the line. (You could also use CTRL-C to
abort the edit and go back to the star
prompt; that way, though, you’d lose any
new characters.)
If you have made changes to the line
and wish to retain them, you have to copy
out the rest of the line, hit RETURN, and
press CTRL-C to go back to the star
prompt. Then tell EDLIN the line num¬
ber, and start all over again. (It’s fortunate
that EDLIN displays the line that you are
about to edit.)
The current line number
Because EDLIN works with lines, it
must maintain some kind of “line pointer”
so that it can keep track of which line is
being edited (i.e., the current line).
EDLIN displays an indicator—the aster¬
isk (*) —so that you can identify the
current line. As you will see, that can be
very useful for some subcommands,
since EDLIN always begins an operation
(such as a Search) at the current line
number, unless otherwise specified.
Even though EDLIN displays line
numbers, they are not stored in the file.
In fact, EDLIN always displays sequential
line numbers regardless of the operation
you perform (e.g., delete a line).
At EDLIN’s star prompt, you can go to
and edit any line in the file by typing the
line number and pressing RETURN. You
can edit the current line by typing a peri¬
od (.) followed by a RETURN. And finally,
you can edit the line following the current
line by pressing RETURN alone.
Long lines
Before we go on to more complicated
editing, a couple of general application
notes are in order. First, the maximum
EDLIN is well worth
learning about just
because it’s so
simple to use.
line length allowed by EDLIN is 253
characters. Although the maximum is
really 255, a carriage-return/line-feed se¬
quence (two characters) is required for
each line of text.
On any of the Heath/Zenith IBM com¬
patibles, if you input a line that would go
past the right margin, you will find that
the cursor will jump down to the line
below. This “character-wrap” will not ac¬
tually insert a carriage-return/line-feed
pair, however. As far as EDLIN is con¬
cerned, you are still on the same line. You
will find that you can enter up to 253
characters until you hear a beep of com¬
plaint from your computer; after that, no
further characters will be accepted until
you move to the next line.
If you use EDLIN to read a file that has
long lines, they’ll be displayed broken on
the screen. One point to keep in mind is
that you will be able to use the List com¬
mand to view lines much longer than 253
characters. But if you try to edit the line
with the function keys, the line will auto¬
matically be truncated to 253 characters.
For some reason, the character-wrap
capability does not work properly with
EDLIN on the ZIOO. You can view and edit
long lines, but to do so you have to
provide the necessary line breaks on the
display by using the LINE FEED key (or
CTRL-j). (As with the line breaks on an
IBM compatible, the line breaks you in¬
sert here will affect only the display, not
the actual text in your file.) Continue to
press Fl (or any of the other editing keys)
until the entire line is edited.
Control characters
Despite what some of the documenta¬
tion may lead you to believe, you can
include some control characters (e.g.,
CTRL-G for a “beep ”) in a file edited with
EDLIN. In some versions of EDLIN, just
type the control character; in others, you
may need to precede your desired control
character with a CTRL-V. The “V ” charac¬
ter must be uppercase. (My preferred
technique for editing batch files is to al¬
ways lock the keyboard in capital letters,
so I do not have to remember to use the
SHIFT key when I want to enter control
characters.)
So, if you wanted to have your
computer beep at a prompt in a batch file,
you would simply enter: CTRL-V, CTRL-G.
That is, hold down the control key (CTRL),
and press V followed by G.
However, I have found that this tech¬
nique does not work with a number of
control characters. The most notable are
CTRL-P and CTRL-N, both of which MS-
DOS uses for printer-echo control. EDLIN
will simply ignore you when you type
these and several other control charac¬
ters.
Additional ways to examine a file
To easily use a line editor such as
EDLIN, it is important to know various
subcommands that you can use to see the
contents of a file. Although we have al¬
ready used the List (l) subcommand in its
most basic form, the most general List
subcommand syntax is:
[begin-n][,last-n]L
If you wish to see a specific range of
lines, you can use the optional beginning
line number (begin-n) and the last line
number (last-n) in the subcommand.
One important point about the List sub¬
command is that its use does not change
the current line number.
When you want to scroll through a
large file, you will probably want to use
the Page (p) subcommand. Although the
Page subcommand was introduced in
MS-DOS version 2, it was not included in
the Zenith EDLIN documentation until
version 3.2.
The general syntax for the P sub¬
command is:
[n]P
or
[begin-n][,last-n]p
As with the List subcommand, if you
wish to see a specific range of lines, you
can use the optional beginning line num¬
ber (begin-n) and the last line number
(last-n) in the subcommand.
The difference between the subcom¬
mands is that the Page subcommand does
42 Sextant November-December 1987
GREAT PRICES
EDLIN Command Summary
EDLIN [d:][\path]FILENAME.EXT[/B]
Append (ha)
[n]A
Copy (nc)
„dest-nc
or
[begin-n],[last-n],dest-n[,count]c
Delete (nD)
[n]D
or
[begin-n]Jast-nD
Edit line (n)
n
End (e)
E
Insert (l)
[n]i
List text (dl)
[begin-n][,last-n]L
Move (pm)
„dest-nM
or
[begin-n],[last-n],dest-nM
Page (P)
[n]P
or
[begin-n][,last-n]p
Quit (Q)
Q
Replace (r)
[begin-n][,last-n][?]R oldstring ctrl-z newstring
Search (s)
[begin-n][Jast-n][?]s oldstring
Transfer (t)
[dest-n]T[d: ]filename . ext
Write (nw)
[n]w
Table 1. Subcommands in EDLIN, the line editor supplied with MS-DOS. Items
in square brackets are optional. Except in the EDLIN command line itself,
lowercase items (such as begin-n) indicate number references.
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Sextant November-December 1987 43
change the current line number. Also,
the current line indicator (*) is always the
last line displayed on the screen.
Block subcommands
Like most editors, EDLIN has the
standard Copy, Delete, and Move sub¬
commands. (As with Page, these three
subcommands were introduced in MS-
DOS version 2; but Copy and Move were
not included in the Zenith documenta¬
tion until version 3.2.)
The Delete subcommand allows you to
delete a single line or a range of lines. The
general syntax for the Delete subcom¬
mand is:
[n]D
or
[begin-n]Jast-nD
Note that when you want to delete a
range of lines, the optional beginning line
number (begin-n) defaults to the current
line number if one is not specified. The
comma preceding the last line number
(last-n) is always required.
The difference in use between Copy
and Move is reflected in their names:
with both, a series of already existing
lines will be inserted into a new location;
with Copy, the lines at the original loca¬
tion are left intact; with Move, the
lines are deleted from the original
location.
Syntax for the Copy and Move subcom¬
mands is quite similar. The general syntax
for the Copy subcommand is:
„dest-nc
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44 Sextant November-December 1987
or
[begin-n],[last-n],dest-n[,count]c
Similarly, the general syntax for the
Move subcommand is:
„dest-nM
or
[begin-n],[last-n],dest-nM
You can use the first general form of the
Copy and Move subcommands to copy or
move the current line number to a desti¬
nation line number (dest-n). In the sec¬
ond general form of each subcommand,
the range to be copied or moved can be
specified just as with the Delete subcom¬
mand.
You may have noticed that the Copy
subcommand also has a count option. If a
number is not specified for count, the
default specifies that the subcommand
copy the line (or range of lines) only once.
If you enter a number for count, then the
Copy subcommand will copy the line or
range of lines that number of times—a
useful feature if you want to create a large
file quickly.
The Search subcommand
Edun’s Search and Replace subcom¬
mands can also be used to make changes
in a file.
The general syntax for the Search
subcommand is:
[begin-n][,last-n][?]s oldstring
The simplest form of the Search sub¬
command is S oldstring. The Search sub¬
command will begin the search at the
current line (indicated by the *) and
search for the first occurrence of old¬
string; it will search until it is found or
until the end of the file is reached, which¬
ever comes first.
If a match is found, the line containing
oldstring will be displayed, and you will
be back at EDLIn’s star prompt. The line
containing oldstring will be the current
line. If you want, you can edit it.
(Note, by the way, that Search is
case sensitive. You must specify up¬
per- and lowercase characters. Searching
for “Press” will not show you any in¬
stances of “press”.)
After you have once entered the entire
Search subcommand for oldstring, you
can just type an S to Search for the next
occurrence of oldstring.
The optional question mark (?) is used
to provide an “O.K.?” prompt after the
display of each line containing oldstring.
If you wish, you can specify a range of
lines (i.e., begin-n to last-n) to be
searched. Generally, I want to search the
entire file for something, regardless of
where I am in the file. So, I might use the
following subcommand:
I,#s oldstring
That subcommand form allows me to
search the entire file for whatever the
contents of oldstring are.
But what is that strange # sign doing in
the middle of the subcommand? That is
an EDLIN “shorthand” symbol that repre¬
sents a line number larger than the last
one in the file —in effect, the entire file.
You could accomplish the same thing by
entering a line number larger than any in
the file, say 999. I use the # only because
it requires fewer keystrokes.
If I knew that oldstring appeared a
number of times in the file, my preferred
form for using the Search subcommand
would be:
I,#?s oldstring
Using the question mark allows me to
control whether the Search will continue.
As the Search progresses and an exact
match is found, the line containing the
match will be displayed with the “O.K.?”
prompt on the following line. If I enter a
Y, the Search stops; if I enter an N, the
Search continues to look for the next exact
match of oldstring.
For example, let’s say that I was looking
for a particular occurrence of ECHO in a
batch file. I can use the following sub¬
command: l,#?SECHO. I type an N
response to the “O.K.?” prompt until I
find the exact line I am looking for; then I
type a Y to abort the Search. Once you
EDLIN is useful for
small tasks that you
want to do quickly.
get the hang of doing this, it really is
pretty easy.
The Replace subcommand
The Replace subcommand is quite sim¬
ilar to Search. The general form of the
subcommand is:
[begin-n][,last-n][?]R oldstring
CTRL-z newstring
The Replace subcommand will replace
an occurrence of oldstring with new¬
string. Notice that the text strings are
separated by a CTRL-Z— and that the only
spaces on the command line are any that
may appear within oldstring or new¬
string. I have shown this subcommand in
its most general form—but on the IBM
compatibles, you can use the F6 key in¬
stead of CTRL-Z.
Aside from replacing, the Replace
subcommand works exactly like the
Search subcommand. If a range of lines
(i.e., begin-n to last-n) is not specified,
the Replace subcommand will begin the
search (and replace) at the current line
(indicated by the *), and will search for
the first occurrence of oldstring until
found or until the end of the file is
reached, whichever comes first. Then the
oldstring text will be replaced by the
newstring text.
Just as it is used in the Search sub¬
command, the optional question mark (?)
is used for requesting a prompt during
the replace process, and for functions.
The use of the question-mark prompt is
particularly recommended for the Re¬
place subcommand, because it gives you
complete control of the process.
After you have once entered the entire
Replace subcommand with the oldstring
and newstring text, you can just type an
R to search for the next occurrence of
oldstring and replace it with newstring.
The Transfer subcommand
There are occasions when it is useful to
be able to merge a file on disk with the
one you are working on. For example,
you may already have another batch file
that contains the basic skeleton or other
subcommands that you want to include in
a new batch file. The Transfer sub¬
command allows you to read that file into
your current one quite easily.
The general form of the Transfer
subcommand is:
[dest-n]T[d :]<FILENAME. ext>
If the destination line number (dest-n)
is not specified, the contents of the speci¬
fied file (<FILENAME.EXT>) are trans¬
ferred (i.e., merged) into your current file
at the current line number indicated by
the *. When the destination line number
is specified, the contents of the specified
file are transferred to the current file
beginning at that line number.
Although you can specify an optional
drive letter for the file, the Transfer
subcommand still does not allow you to
specify a path. If you try to specify a path,
EDLIN won’t recognize it as such, and will
display a “File not found” error message.
EDLIN subcommands—a summary
I have not attempted to cover every
subcommand variation or all of the
options available in the EDLIN subcom¬
mands . The purpose of this article was to
give you an introduction to EDLIN, its
subcommands, and its capabilities. This
editor is not intended to replace your
word processor, because EDLIN simply
does not have the features that most
people want in a word processor.
Like most software, it takes a little
practice to become used to the capabili¬
ties and features of EDLIN. I admit it’s not
the best editor around, but it is useful for
small tasks that you want to do quickly.
Table I contains a complete list of all
EDLIN subcommands. You will find that I
have not previously mentioned the use of
the Append or Write subcommands in
this article.
These two subcommands allow you to
edit files that are larger than the available
memory. Append takes a specified num¬
ber of lines from the disk file and puts
them in memory for editing. Write takes
a specified range of lines from memory
and puts them into the disk file. My
reason for not covering them is that they
are needed only for large files.
Even though EDLIN may be easy to use
for small files, it gets to be very clumsy
and cumbersome if you are trying to edit
a large file. My personal preference is to
limit the use of EDLIN to files of 100 lines
or fewer. Even so, I will still use a full-
featured editor such as Watch Word for
small files that require a lot of detailed
editing.
To get the most out of EDLIN, I suggest
using it for editing small files such as
batch files and CONFIG.SYS. You will
probably find that you’ll want to use your
standard editor for most other chores.
An EDLIN kink (and fix)
Have you ever run a batch file and
found that you had an extra blank com¬
mand prompt displayed? In the example
of the first START.bat file, you might see
something like the following:
A>DATE
A>TIME
A>
A>_
The fourth display line is where your
cursor finally stops, but the third line is
blank. What happened?
It’s a trivial problem, but it stems from
the very nature of EDLIN as a line editor.
EDLIN closes a file only after you have
given a carriage return to end the last
line. In an EDLIN file, the end-of-file
marker (CTRL-Z) will always be preceded
by a carriage return. But MS-DOS will
treat the CTRL-Z in the same way as it does
a carriage return, so that it can execute
the last line in a file, even if there’s no
terminal carriage return. So, we have a
superfluous carriage return—which pro¬
duces the duplicated MS-DOS prompt.
Agreed, this is a trivial problem, but
there is an easy way to fix it.
After you have finished making
changes to a batch file with EDLIN, enter a
# sign to get to the end of the file. Then
enter the List (l) subcommand to see the
last line. Edit the last line by typing in
the appropriate line number. Press F3 (to
copy out the entire line), then press F6
(CTRL-Z on the ZlOO). Finally, save the file
with the E subcommand. Because the
CTRL-Z character is used to indicate the
end of an ASCII text file, we have simply
inserted an end of file at the correct
place. That will eliminate the blank com¬
mand prompt line.
Any questions?
I am always glad to answer questions
about my articles if you will enclose a
stamped, self-addressed envelope (pref¬
erably a #10 business envelope) with
your letter. And I am always interested in
hearing about subjects for articles that
you would like to see in Sextant.
William M. Adney
P. O. Box 531655
Grand Prairie, TX 75053-1655
Ordering Information
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MS-DOS version 3.2 (for Z181), model
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Orders: 800/253-0570; in Michigan and
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Sextant November-December 1987 45
Index to Advertisers
Reader
Reader
Reader
Service # Page #
Service # Page #
Service # Page #
Alpha Services
Hilgraeve Inc.
Hubert Reeder
127
’286 card for IBM compatibles.
29
203
Communications software for
242
Text editor for IBM compatibles.
21
ANAPRO Corporation
’100, ’150. Back
cover
Reichert Digital Systems
*
H/Z89 enhancements.
64
Hogware
151
Accounting software for Z150.
69
A.U. Software
144
ZlOO graphics program.
64
Scottie Systems
130
Examination software.
67
Hoyle & Hoyle Software
111
IBM compatibility for H/ZIOO.
19
Bea-Soft
113
Adventure game.
64
The SEBHC Journal
150
Hard disk drives.
29
Huff Software
138
Publication on H8, H88, H/Z89-90.
50
Dante Bencivengo
176
Technical word processing.
45
Secured Computer Systems
193
Z150-160 hardware enhancements.
69
InterContinental Microsystems
157
H/Z89-90 hardware enhancements.
50
Buss
106
Network for ZlOO and IBM compatibles.
5
Sextant
*
Heath/Zenith news.
63
Jay Gold Software
♦
Subscriptions.
31
BV Engineering
120
Home finance system.
34
Sextant Publishing Company
155
Engineering software.
67
Kandueazy Computer Software Services
*
Binder interface kits
27
Cambridge Computer Corp.
119
Accessories & supplies.
22
SigmaSoft & Systems
197
Honeywell terminal emulation for
KEA Systems
185
Winchester disk for H8 or H/Z89.
8
ZlOO, Z150.
17
171
VT220/VT240 emulation for IBM
Sinissippi Synergistic
Cardinal Point Inc.
compatibles.
26
159
Data base, word processing, code writing
199
Printer command references.
49
175
VT220/VT240 emulation for Z181-183.
62
software.
45
CompuMagic
Kres Engineering
Sirius Software
156
CP/M utilities.
75
194
ZlOO detached keyboard; portable
212
Hardware, games.
57
Computer Options Unlimited
conversion for ZlOO.
51
S & K Technology
191
Laptop computers & accessories.
62
Lightek
230
Word processor, spelling checkers.
74
Conversational Computer Systems
177
ZlOO enhancements.
8
Skycastle Computer Products
213
Turbo Pascal utilities.
56
Lindley Systems
218
Printer enhancement software.
55
Disk Software Inc.
118
Software and supplies.
33
SoftNet Communication Inc.
158
Geometry library for Turbo Pascal.
10
Magnolia Microsystems
132
Network for ZlOO, Z150.
20
Domino Computer Services Inc.
134
’89 enhancements.
49
Software Wizardry
232
Software for H/Z89-90, H/ZIOO.
51
Matcomm
204
Speed enhancement for H/Z151-161.
11
Ecosoft Inc.
192
Supplies, disks.
43
Spectre Technologies, Inc.
215
C compiler and debugger.
37
Micronics Technology
198
CP/M & MS-DOS software.
25
ETTS
207
Winchester for H/Z89.
57
Technology Marketing
148
Graphics software for H/ZIOO.
55
Micro Wizzard Software
182
Weather monitoring hardware, software for
FBE Research Company
245
Programs for ZlOOs, IBM compatibles.
56
’150 series.
34
102
H/Z150 hardware enhancements.
77
MTS Computers
UCI Corporation
116
H/Z89 hardware enhancements.
77
247
Daisy wheel printers & accessories.
44
196
Hardware for ZlOO and Z148.
23
142
H/ZlOO hardware enhancements.
77
Omni Data Systems
180
IBM compatibility for ZlOO.
59
169
Clock for ’100 and IBM compatibles.
77
201
Computers, printers, hardware
Barry Watzman
220
Z171 memory expansion.
77
enhancements.
33
205
Desktop utility software for H/ZlOO and
Fina Software
Paul F. Herman
H/Z150.
30
164
H/Z25 enhancements.
45
172
Graphics software for H/ZlOO, H/Z150.
27
WindowDOS Associates
First Capitol Computer
Payload Computer Systems
188
Memory-resident disk manager for
206
ZlOO trade-ins & sales.
53
147
Hardware, software, supplies.
38-39
MS-DOS.
35
Graymatter Application Software
P.C. Enterprises
Wong’s Advanced Technologies, Inc.
131
Hardware enhancements.
69
219
Financial software for ’89, ’100, ’150.
43
227
Printers, monitors, hard disks, tape drives.
Marv Hamdan
Powerline Systems
hardware enhancements. 70
-72
238
Communications diagnostic software for IBM
225
Records management for MS-DOS.
33
Zeducorp
compatibles.
67
Q-N-E International
236
Local area network.
10
Hawkeye Grafix Inc.
239
C development system.
48
Zyzx Inc.
217
Communications software, business BBS, C
Quikdata Computer Services
237
HERO 1 programming support.
32
data encryption.
21
221
Hardware, software, supplies.
3
RAM Technology
* Contact advertiser directly.
129
Hardware, software, supplies.
6-7
Please refer to the key at the right
1.
To Anne Benedict, Plug a Hard Disk on a Card into Your ’150, p. 9.
when completing the article
2.
David W. Zimmerly, Smooth Sailing with ;
a Z240, p. 12,
evaluation form on the attached
3.
William N. Locke, ZlOO Notebook, p
. 16,
Reader Service Card above. By
4.
Victoria Saxon, The Last National HUGCON, p. 24.
letting us know how interesting
5.
Gerald Cramm, Cramolin Cleans Computer Contacts, p. 36.
and/or helpful you found each
6 .
William M. Adney, EDLIN: An MS-DOS Lifeboat, p. 40.
feature in this issue of Sextant,
you
7.
Walter J. Janowski, The Eight-Bit World, p, 47.
will help us choose the best articles
8 .
Robert W. Rasch, Opening Windows
on Your TOO, p. 52.
for you in the future.
9.
David D. Clark, Use Your TSO’s Unused Memory, p. 58.
46 Sextant November-December 1987
Name
Address
.. number(s) beloy,
^20 121 122 4 24 “
^30 131 132 133 i ,1 f ^27 128 129
140 141 142 143 14^ S "" 138 139
150 151 152 153 154 1^55 148 149
160 161 162 163 164 i« ff® l^® 159
17« 171 172 m U ^ ™ 139
180 181 182 183 iL 177 178 179
190 191 192 193 it iS If 139
200 201 202 203 204 205 2^ on^
2i0 211 212 213 214 |, 5 ^08 209
Name
Address
----
referrt'dJx"46™" *^7®'
110 111 112 113 lu nl m
120 121 122 123 24 i" HO
130 131 132 133 34 ^ f 1^7 128 129
^^9 141 142 m 144 145 ^ ^
150 151 152 153 1^ i« 148 149
160 161 162 163 it f f 137 158 159
1^9 171 172 ItI iVt 17I ^ '98 169
180 181 182 183 184 185 isfi
190 191 192 193 194 jf 5 189
200 201 202 203 2^ pS w '^8 199
210 211 212 213 2it p^ """ ^08 209
220 221 222 223 2^ S ^'^^18 219
230 231 232 233 S4 of of 229
240 241 242 243 2! pf f ^ ^^7 238 239
-- 243244240 246 247 248 249
Reader Service Card
November-December IQ«7
«ease rate the article. ;» fk- •
ggaSSSggg
□ □□□□^iJaacood
° D □ □ n n R H D Fair
°°DaaanRR
Com ^ ^
Comments
Reader Service Card
^ovember-December IQS7
Plege check the boxes that apply to you
H8, etc.)? *'^'1 '"^chines (H/Z89-<
C. □ Do you Sse Sm '"i'^h'nes?
machines (2150, 2l7i:“^9f'ole
Please rate the articles m oi.- • '
gg°§sggg^—
sssssiggS'-r
°°°aggggOR^
^ Didn tread
Comments
The Eight-Bit World
Walter J. Janowski
User areas
DiskGuise
COLUMNS
Tutorl/O
Others from Logic Associates
Derby CPIM utilities
CompuMagic Utility Package
SEARCH
FTL Modula-2
The Organizer—an update
This time, let’s take a look at some
current software offerings for CP/M.
Recently, I’ve received packages from
four companies. These six packages con¬
tain over 25 programs; the prices range
from $12 to $45.
It’s going to be a busy column, so let’s
get right to business.
User areas
I received several packages from Logic
Associates in Chicago, Illinois, and I have
to admit I’m impressed. One program is
an answer to my recent prayers.
But first, a little background on user
areas.
CP/M allows you to organize your disks
by “user areas. ” This lets you create sepa¬
rate file areas on your diskettes not unlike
the subdirectories in the Microsoft Disk
Operating System (MS-DOS).
If you’ve never explored user areas, try
this simple experiment. Boot up a CP/M
disk on your computer. At the A> prompt,
type DIR for a directory. Now type USER 1
and a RETURN. Do another DIR, and this
time you will probably be told that there
are no files. It’s just as if the disk were
blank. In reality, you have just logged into
an empty user area, which we ll call Al:.
Under normal circumstances, you are al¬
ways working in AO:, that is, drive A:, user
area 0.
The command USER itself will report
the currently logged user area. If you
have logged into a user area (a1:, for ex¬
ample), the command USER will respond
appropriately (as with USER I). Other¬
wise, the A> prompt remains unchanged,
giving you no indication of the user area
into which you are logged.
The drawback of user areas is their
inability to recognize other user areas.
For example, let’s say you are logged into
area Al: and wish to run PIE.COM, which is
located in area AO:. Entering the com¬
mand PIE will simply get you PIE?.
CP/M’s infamous “? ” error message has
just indicated it is unable to locate the
program you requested.
CP/M gives you no convenient way to
access files and programs in other user
areas, (dir USER I, for instance, or DIR
Al:, or anything else you might think of,
just won’t work.) Of the usual CP/M
commands, only PIP can deal with a user
area other than the current one. Just add
the G (get) parameter in square brackets.
PIP B: = FILENAME.EXT[G2]
would copy FILENAME. EXT from user area
2. But PIP can only read a file from a
different user area; it can’t write a file to
any user area other than the one you’re
logged into.
So, how do you get PIP itself written to
your user area? Call up PIP, then hit
RETURN at its star (*) prompt. Then
switch to your desired user area; PIP will
still be loaded in memory. Then type
SAVE 29 PIP.COM; this will move the first
29 pages (29 x 256 bytes) in memory to a
file to be named PIP COM. (My thanks, by
the way, to Bill Adney and his FlipFast
Guide to CP/M-80/85 for that explanation
of how to get PIP into a user area so you
can copy things into it.)
Well, you can understand why CP/M’s
user areas have never been too popular.
However, you might have installed
ZCPR, the replacement for CP/M’s
standard console command processor
(CCP). ZCPR makes things easier by
allowing you to define a search path
through which CP/M will look for a
requested program.
In the above example, you could have
set up your system so that CP/M would
check in area AO: if a program wasn’t
found in the currently logged drive and
user area. Having a search path would
allow all your commonly used programs
and utilities to be stored in AO:; you would
be able to access them from any other
user areas you may have designated for
other applications. This becomes particu¬
larly useful with a hard disk.
In addition, ZCPR changes the A>
prompt to indicate the user area. If you
were logged into drive A:, user area 4, for
example, the prompt would be changed
to A4>. This really helps keep things
straight.
But ZCPR still leaves one problem un¬
solved. Most CP/M applications were not
written to recognize user areas. If you
were logged into AO:, executed PIE from
there, and tried to edit a file in area A3:,
PIE would be unable to locate the file.
You are also lost if your program uses
overlay files—as do the “big three”:
WordStar, SuperCalc, and dBASE II.
These programs run by executing one
main .COM file, but some of their specific
functions are stored in additional overlay
files. To conserve memory space, these
files are called into memory only when
needed.
The problem is that these overlay files
won’t be named .COM files. ZCPR will
search its path to find an executable . COM
file, but it will not search for overlays.
This operation is performed within the
program itself, not as a function of CP/M.
(Note: Newer versions of ZCPR are cor¬
recting this limitation of the search-path
feature.)
Anyway, this general subject of user
areas and search paths has been one of my
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pet concerns lately. I have been doing a
lot of work with dBASE II and with Quick-
Code, Fox and GelleFs dBASE II code
generator. Both of these programs are
dependent on overlay operations. Also,
QuickCode generates a number of small
program modules for dBASE. User areas
would be an ideal way to keep several
different dBASE applications separated
within one diskette.
DiskGuise
Well, Logic Associates came to my res¬
cue with DiskGuise (dg). DG is a multi¬
function utility just two kilobytes in size.
(It’s so tiny that its elegance of operation
almost brings tears to my eyes when I
compare it with some of those monolithic
MS-DOS utilities.)
One of dg’s features is the ability to
rename a user area as a disk drive. If PIE
cannot recognize area A5:, for example,
A5: can be renamed D: (or any drive name
of your choice). Now PIE thinks it is deal¬
ing with a new physical drive— D: —rath¬
er than with another user area of A:.
DG also allows you to create more than
one additional name or “alias” for one
drive. Say, for example, you had a one-
drive system, and an application program
was configured to look for two drives.
Then you could assign the alias B: to drive
A:. The application would then think you
had a drive B:, but all B: information
would still be written to A:.
Standard CP/M normally allows you to
access 16 user areas per drive, and ZCPR
increases that number to 32. DG allows
you to access up to 255 user areas.
CP/M’s STAT utility allows you to set a
drive to read-only status to prevent unin¬
tended alteration of files, but that status
will revert to read/write whenever a
warm boot (CTRL-C) occurs. For added
security, DG lets you assign a read-only
status that will survive a CTRL-C.
And last, but certainly not least, is my
dream come true. DG lets you define
what Logic Associates refers to as an
“extended public drive.” One drive is
designated such that whenever any file
is missing from the currently logged
drive, the public drive is automatically
searched—even when the call has been
made from within another program. This
means that a program that uses overlays
can be placed on AO: and executed while
you are logged onto A4:, for example.
When executed, DG tacks itself onto
the GP/M image in memory, and
occupies about I.75K of additional mem¬
ory space whenever it is loaded. This may
be a problem in programs that utilize
every last byte of memory, but most allow
enough leeway. In fact, I have yet to find
one program that will not run with DG
installed—although QuickGode hangs up
with a “not enough memory” error if I
have both DG and Write-Hand-Man resi¬
dent simultaneously.
You invoke the drive changes on the
command line that calls DG; the com¬
mands are very straightforward. If DG is
executed with no additional parameters,
it identifies itself and offers a help menu.
(On-line help in less than 2K!)
The program recognizes actual physi¬
cal drives A: through P:, and allows defini¬
tion of “virtual” drives (user-area aliases)
A: through P:. Virtual drive P: is the public
drive.
For example, to define area A6: as drive
G:, the command line would be DG G=A6.
Specifying AO: as the public drive would
be DG P=A0. Multiple assignments may
be entered on one command line, such as
DG P=A0 B=A4: D=B1. . ., etc. Once you
enter this, DG provides a display of the
assignments you have just set and returns
to the A> prompt.
DG has performed flawlessly; after the
first time I used it, it became one of those
utilities I don’t know how I ever lived
without. If you frequently use programs
requiring overlays, have a single-drive
system and wish to run programs requir¬
ing multiple drives, or have a hard disk
with a directory system getting way out of
control, DiskGuise is a steal at $32.
COLUMNS
Another entry from Logic Associates is
GOLUMNS. The documentation refers to
GOLUMNS as a “column processor,” able to
process columns of text in much the same
way a word processor manipulates indi¬
vidual words. If you’re looking to produce
a newsletter or other multi-column docu¬
ment, check this out before you spring for
an MS-DOS machine and one of those
fancy (and expensive) desktop-publishing
programs.
Ordinarily, if you were attempting to
produce a multi-column document, you
would need to format your text into one
long column with your word processor,
print it, and then use scissors and paste to
assemble your finished document. COL¬
UMNS will allow you to take that text file
and manipulate page size, margins, and
number of columns to produce a new file
formatted to your liking.
COLUMNS accepts standard ASGII text
as input and produces standard ASGII
text as output. So, your input file can be
created with any editor, and your output
file can be manipulated by any word
processor for “fine tuning.”
COLUMNS also gives you the ability to
reverse the process; that is, if you have
created a multi-column document, you
can return it to its original, single-column
format.
The documentation is clear and well
written. Many examples demonstrate the
options available. Output may be direct¬
ed to the screen for previewing or to the
printer for immediate use, or stored to a
disk file. On-line help is also available.
The only feature I found lacking in
COLUMNS was the ability to reformat the
line length of the input file. In other
words, if you want the columns of your
output file to be 25 characters wide, you
must first use your text editor to format
the entire input file to a 25-character
48 Sextant Novemher-Decemher 1987
width. COLUMNS will then process the
file, assembling pages and creating page
breaks where necessary.
True, COLUMNS will appeal to a fairly
limited market. But for those requiring
this capability, I found COLUMNS able to
do the job well, and at a reasonable
price—$29.
Tutorl/O
Speaking of limited appeal, another
product from Logic Associates is Tu-
torl/O. Tutorl/O is a utility designed for
assembly language programmers and
those interested in studying the input/
output (I/O) operations of CP/M.
Fm getting in a little over my head
here, but let’s see if I can’t explain this.
If you’re interested in studying the
inner workings of CP/M, you already
know that the Digital Research CP/M
manuals are cryptic at best. Many books
have been written about CP/M. But an¬
other way to study the workings of the file
functions of CP/M would be to monitor
the central processing unit (CPU) itself
and watch its reactions as CP/M functions
are performed. Tutorl/O can also show
Tutorl/O provides you
with a monitor to
the innards of
CPIM while it’s
working.
you the result codes that will be returned
to your program, and it can monitor any
changes made in a file’s directory entries.
Tutorl/O provides you with a sort of
monitor to the innards of CP/M while it’s
working. Tutor I/O is executed with DDT
or another debugging tool of your choice.
Used together, they will allow you to per¬
form the various functions related to
CP/M’s basic disk operating system
(BDOS). Tutorl/O lets you do this
through a menu of single-character com¬
mands. After each function is performed,
all the resulting status codes and results
are displayed on the screen for analysis.
ifr ve lost you at this point, don’t wor¬
ry. If your interest in the inner workings
of CP/M doesn’t carry you far enough to
understand what this means, you proba¬
bly won’t need a copy of Tutorl/O anyway.
If any of this makes sense to you, howev¬
er, I hope I’ve deciphered enough of
Tutorl/O’s operations to convey how
useful this package is.
The program and documentation as¬
sume that the user has a fairly solid grasp
of CP/M and assembly language pro¬
gramming with reference to disk I/O
operations. It’s definitely not a package
for beginners. But if you’ve got that burn¬
ing desire to learn CP/M inside and out,
Tutorl/O should help make your efforts a
lot less painful—and the price is just $29.
Others from Logic Associates
Logic Associates also markets some
other interesting utilities for CP/M, in¬
cluding SUPERMIT (a SUBMiT-like batch
processor that incorporates a BASIC-like
command structure), VERSBASE (a utility
that will rename and number successive
revisions of files, giving them all a .BAK
extension), and MEGABACK (a backup util¬
ity for hard-disk users).
Logic Associates seems committed to
continue supporting the CP/M market¬
place. In fact, most of their packages were
developed on an IMSAI 8080 computer
with Morrow’s Disk Jockey double-den¬
sity controller, two Shugart S800 drives,
and a Televideo 912C console.
Write for a copy of their catalogue/
newsletter. It contains articles, hints, and
a list of their latest products.
Derby CP/M utilities
William S. Derby of Livermore, Cali¬
fornia, saw that CP/M lacked a few of the
features he found handy in MS-DOS; he
developed the Derby CP/M Utilities to
correct the situation. This set of four
programs is a compact collection of utili¬
ties written in assembly language for
speed and size advantages.
The first program, SUB, is a replace¬
ment for CP/M’s SUBMIT program. It
emulates SUBMIT in most of its functions.
So, you can make up a text file (.SUB
extension) of CP/M command lines, and
CP/M can execute them as a batch opera¬
tion. However, SUB provides additional
features not found in CP/M’s original.
Most notably, SUB allows you to com¬
bine several submit files into one master
file (to be called SUB. bat). This is particu¬
larly helpful if you have a number of small
.SUB files; they’ll take up a lot less disk
space in one file. Whenever you call one
of the individual .SUB files, it will be
invoked from the master file.
SUB also provides an interactive mode
that will let you input lines from the
keyboard. All in all, SUB represents a
much more powerful utility than SUBMIT.
Second is SD. SD can be thought of as a
replacement for CP/M’s STAT utility as
well as a replacement for the DIR com¬
mand. SD lists the current file directory
sorted alphabetically; it provides addi¬
tional information on each file, such as
file size, number of unused sectors, and
read/write status. A number of com¬
mand-line switches are available to select
how much file information is displayed,
and to change the Read/Write/System
status of individual files.
CMP is a file-comparison utility. CMP
will compare two files, either ASCII or
binary, and report on and identify
differences between the two. This can be
useful in determining if a file has been
changed from a previous copy, or for veri¬
fying data integrity between transferred
files.
COPY is a program designed to make
the command line for copying CP/M files
similar to the format used by MS-DOS’s
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COPY command. So, you can use COPY
OLDFILE.EXT NEWFILE.EXT rather than
PIP NEWFILE.EXT = OLDFILE.EXT. COPY
will interpret your command line, pro¬
cess it, and feed it to PIP in the format PIP
expects.
COPY is probably most useful for users
who continually need to switch between
CP/M and MS-DOS. Now, they won’t
have to worry about keeping command
structures straight. Also, COPY does add a
little more ease of operation to day-to-day
copying.
The Derby Utilities are a well-written
collection, but it will be up to you to
determine whether or not they would be
useful in your particular application.
However, at a price of only $12, it’s hard
to go wrong. They’re available in all 48-
track-per-inch, SW' disk formats.
CompuMagic Utility Package
CompuMagic, Inc., of Severn, Mary¬
land, still distributes several software
packages for CP/M. One package that’s
chock-full of utilities for CP/M is the
CompuMagic Utility Package. The pack¬
age consists of a collection of several small
but useful utilities roughly divided into
three categories.
The first group contains file-manage¬
ment programs. CMCOPY is a multi¬
function file copy program similar to PIP,
but with several more options. CMCOPY
can perform multiple file copying while
querying the user for confirmation of file
name, overwrite status, copy verification,
etc. It also provides an option for setting
to zero the eighth bit of each character
(e.g., converting a WordStar document
file to an ASCII file).
COMPARE will compare the contents of
two files and report on their similarity in
size or content. Unfortunately, the only
information given is whether or not the
files are the same. COMPARE offers no
specifics about the actual nature of any
difference.
DS (DoubleSpace) simply takes an
ASCII text file and converts it to a double¬
spaced document.
ERASE is the same as CP/M’s ERA com¬
mand, but it allows multiple entries per
command line, and also gives a query-
before-performing option. Likewise, RE¬
NAME is the same as CP/M’s REN com¬
mand, but it adds options similar to those
in ERASE.
SORT is an ASCII-text sorting utility
that will sort the lines of an ASCII file in
ascending or descending alphabetical or¬
der. WC (WordCount) does exactly what it
says—it counts the number of words in an
ASCII file.
Most of the file utilities respond to
command-line switches that control que¬
ry mode, prompt mode, user areas, over¬
write status, etc. A special install pro¬
gram is provided to modify the default
settings of each of the file-management
programs.
The second set contains directory utili¬
ties. MDIR and MDIRS produce sorted di¬
rectory listings either with or without
file-size information. DISKDIF will com¬
pare two disks and report on files present
on one disk but not on the other. DIRBAK
lists only files with a .BAK extension.
DIRSPACE and UDIR give a standard direc¬
tory, and also report on the number of
directory entries per disk. (UDIR reports
on all user areas.)
The directory programs also respond to
the same switches as the file-manage¬
ment series, and a similar install program
is provided.
The first two sets of utilities are fairly
trivial, and are often less powerful than
similar programs in the public domain.
But there are a few programs of interest in
the third set, the Special Utilities.
One simple but possibly useful offering
is A.COM. While logged onto another disk
drive, have you ever tried to type “a: ” and
found yourself accidentally typing “A;” or
just “a” instead? Well, A. COM will catch
that error and correct it, converting it
to “a:”.
CMAUTO creates an executable program
that will run another executable program.
In that regard, it’s like the feature of
If you dont have
a modem, Compu-
Magic’s utilities are
worth investigating.
CP/M’s CONFIGUR program that lets you
specify one program for automatic execu¬
tion on bootup. (You can give CONFIGUR a
program created by CMAUTQ so a disk can
be made to automatically boot and run
the CMAUTO program of your choice.) But
CMAUTO programs can be called at any
time.
One of the advantages of CMAUTO is
that you can feed CP/M a full command
line (116 characters)—not just the pro¬
gram name and an argument, which is all
CONFIGUR will take. Also, you can include
user-area specifications. So, if you don’t
have a suitable search-path capability, you
could use CMAUTO programs to call
programs from other user areas.
Another utility is MINIERA, which is
just what you’d expect—a smaller,
stripped-down erase utility. (It’s like
CP/M’s ERA except that it can be called
from within WordStar.) And the pro¬
grams R/O and RAV set, respectively, a
file’s read-only and read/write status.
Finally, SCREEN will capture all output
to the console and copy it to a disk file,
much the way CTRL-P copies console data
to the printer. SCREEN will capture every
byte sent to the console, whether print¬
able or not.
SEARCH
Another program from CompuMagic is
SEARCH. SEARCH is a very flexible ASCII
search utility. It allows you to specify an
50 Sextant November-December 1987
ASCII string and one or more file names.
The files will be searched for each
occurrence of the specified string. Many
options and wildcard naming functions
are available, both for file names and for
the text strings.
The CompuMagic Utility Package sells
for $45, while SEARCH is $30. The
packages may be purchased together for
$60.
The programs all perform as promised.
And most are very small and fast in opera¬
tion. However, I have one reservation
about these packages from CompuMagic.
Many of the programs are not unique; in
many cases, similar or better utilities are
available free in the public domain.
With the widespread availability of
quality public domain software and the
fragility of the CP/M marketplace, I feel
that CompuMagic should seriously con¬
sider a price reduction. By today’s
standards of software quality, these
packages seem overpriced. Still, if you
don’t have a modem or other access to a
source of public domain software, Com¬
puMagic is worth investigating as a
source of useful utilities.
FTL Modula-2
By the way. Workman & Associates has
released its version of the Modula-2
programming language. FTL Modula-2 is
available for CP/M machines—including
a version in Heath/Zenith 5V4" soft-sector
format.
Workman’s promotional material states
that FTL Modula-2 is a one-pass compil¬
er written by Dave Moore of Australia. It
was written in Z80 assembly code and
includes an integral editor. Source code
for the editor is also available.
It looks like a great package; un¬
fortunately, though, I don’t feel I have the
programming experience necessary to do
it justice for a full review.
The Organizer—an update
Tim McNeal of McNeal Software (for¬
merly McNeal Audio) in Warsaw, In¬
diana, has announced that he is releasing
his disk cataloging program. The Organ¬
izer, into the public domain. He has
uploaded the software to GEnie for distri¬
bution, and he will provide copies direct¬
ly for a $5 copying fee.
Thanks for the public domain support,
Tim.
Ordering Information
DiskGuise, $32; COLUMNS, $29;
Tutorl/O, $29.
Logic Associates
1433 West Thome Avenue
Chicago, IL 60660
312/274-0531
Utility Package, $45; SEARCH, $30;
both, $60. (No charge for UPS ground;
add $2 for UPS C.O. D., $5 for foreign
orders. Specify CP/M disk format.)
CompuMagic, Inc.
PO. Box 437
Severn, MD 21144
301/969-8068
GEnie information: 800/638-9636, ext.
21; free on-line demo: 800/638-8369;
half-duplex, 300 or 1200 baud; after
connection, enter HHH<RETURN>. At
the U# prompt, enter 5JM11999,
GENIE<RETURN>.
The FlipFast Guide to Zenith/Heath
CP/M-80/85, $7.95.
Sextant Publishing Company
Dept. S31
716 E Street, S.E.
Washington, DC 20003
The Derby Utilities, $12.
William S. Derby
PO. Box 2041
Livermore, CA 94550
FTL Modula-2, $49.95.
Workman & Associates
112 Marion Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91106
818/796-4401
The Organizer, copying fee $5.
McNeal Software
R3-8A Lake Sharon Drive
PO Box 904
Warsaw, IN 46580
219/269-3793 A
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CA residents add 6V2% sales tax. All prices subject to change without
notice.
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ENGINEERING (818) 957-6322
Circle #194 on Reader Service Card
DOMINO
COMPUTERS
Z89/90 SOFTWARE
ELECTRONIC TYPING $ 79
CONDOR DBMS 671
CBASIC (CP/M) 111
PEARL III 359
MICROSTAT 199
MAGIC SPELL 283
DATASTAR 236
WORDSTAR 316
MAILMERGE 108
MICROSOFT BASIC 140
MICROSOFT COBOL 316
MICROSOFT FORTRAN 156
CP/M OS 140
MULTIPLAN 279
MAGIC WAND 236
PROPERTY MGMT 746
GENERAL LEDGER 316
INVENTORY CONTROL 396
SALES INVOICING 236
ACCTS RECEIVABLE 316
SUPERCALC 159
ZlOO SOFTWARE
Z-CHART $ 78
CONDOR DBMS 338
CONDOR FILE MGMT 155
LOTUS 1-2-3 350
SUPERSORT 103
WORDSTAR 3.3 325
MAILMERGE 3.3 200
SPELLSTAR 3.3 100
MBASIC (CPM-85) 125
MULTIPLAN 125
CP/M-85 OS 125
PEACHTREE GL 295
PEACHTREE INVENTORY 295
PEACHTREE INVOICING 195
PEACHTEXT 5000 250
MICROSTAT FOR Z-DOS 200
CALL FOR SPECIAL HUG DISCOUNTS
ON NEW PRODUCTS.
WE STOCK MOST ZENITH PRODUCTS
WE RENT COMPUTERS, TOO!
GET YOUR ZENITH CHARGE CARD
THROUGH DOMINO COMPUTERS
108 N. Hickory Avenue, Arlington Hts., IL 60004
I systems
authorized DEALER 312/870-8707
Circle #232 on Reader Service Card
Sextant November-December 1987 51
Opening Windows on
Your '100
Microsoft Windows is available for the ZIOO. Was it worth waiting for?
Robert W. Rasch
At long last—Microsoft Windows is
available for the H/ZlOO!
When discussed in Sextant three and a
half years ago, Windows for the ZIOO
seemed to be “just around the corner”
(See “Windows Opens the Door to Com¬
patibility” by Frederick Zimmerman, in
Sextant #10, May-June 1984.) Well, it
has been a little longer than I expected,
but now it’s here.
What is Windows?
When you first use it, Windows can
seem much like an ordinary “pop-up” or
“desktop” utility, such as Barry
Watzman’s Perks (or Borland Interna¬
tional’s SideKick on the Z150 and other
IBM compatibles). When run, Windows
reserves an area of memory for itself, and
loads itself into that space. After it is
loaded, you can run an ordinary applica¬
tions program. Windows will be memo¬
ry-resident all the time, in the
“background,” while your applications
program is running in the “foreground.”
Windows, however, is not really a pop¬
up utility. It is a utility that allows you to
jump between applications. Windows is
an operating-system enhancement; it
puts your applications into memory and
organizes them for quick access.
In effect, it has the potential to turn
full-featured, stand-alone word proces¬
sors, data bases, spreadsheets, etc., into
components of one very powerful inte¬
grated program that will let you switch
among them with just a few keystrokes.
(Windows is compatible with some
currently available memory-resident util¬
ities, if they are loaded before running
Windows. But it could also substitute for
most pop-up utilities.)
Running one of Windows’ sub-pro¬
grams as your application can give you a
good idea of its full potential. Windows
comes with utilities such as a notepad, a
Robert W Rasch lives in Johnson City,
Tennessee. His last article in Sextant, in
the November-December 1986 issue,
discussed how to write computer
simulations in MBASIC.
calculator, a clock, and an appointment
calendar.
Choose the notepad, for example, and
use it as your word processor. Then call
the calculator; it will cover your notepad
text. Or you can have it occupy a window
covering just a part of the screen, with
much of your notepad text still showing.
As you do your calculations, you can ex¬
tract information from the notepad by
means of the Windows clipboard. When
you return to your notepad text, it will be
just as you left it; you can then “import”
your calculator results into it.
Windows provides an easy method for
running your applications. It includes
Being able to switch
among multiple appli¬
cations will spoil you.
drop-down menus and indicates each pos¬
sible application by a small picture
suitable to the choice. (The icons are
quite nice; for instance, the picture of the
clock, although it is tiny, has hands that
move.) Windows gives you the choice of
using your keyboard, a mouse, or both.
That is what Windows looks like at first
glance: a flexible desktop utility with
menus and icons—in fact, that is how I
will be treating it here. And, at $99,
Windows is not terribly high priced for
“just” a desktop utility. But for an idea of
Windows’ full potential, you may want to
look at the comments accompanying this
article.
The basics
Windows comes on five 5^4" disks; the
manual is a 6 V 2 ' x SV 2 " paperback book,
entitled the Microsoft Windows Users
Guide and the Desktop Applications
Users Guide.
Windows requires a computer capable
of running version 2 or later of the Micro¬
soft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS).
You need two double-sided disk drives or
a hard disk. (It is best with a hard disk.)
You also need at least 256 kilobytes of
memory; 5I2K is recommended.
You don’t need a mouse, but it comes in
handy. I’ve used Windows with the
Microsoft Mouse, which needs to be
plugged into either the modem port or
the parallel printer port (with a special
cable).
How Windows behaves
Windows is menu driven, and you
choose among icons. With a mouse, you
point your way through a menu and click
the mouse at your choice. Without a
mouse, you can use the arrow keys to
scroll through a menu, and use RETURN to
execute your choice.
Pressing the FAST REPEAT key and the
spacebar simultaneously will provide you
with the basic menu of operations for the
current application. The menu for that
application will be at the top of the
screen, showing you the titles of its
subsections. Over the notepad, for in¬
stance, “File,” “Edit,” and “Search”
appear—these are the submenus per¬
tinent to the notepad’s operation. Once
the basic menu appears, you can sweep
through the various submenus with the
right and left arrow keys. Hit RETURN and
your choice is executed.
Windows makes FAST REPEAT-spacebar
equivalent to moving the mouse through
a series of icons so that you can choose
which program you will be in. Under
Windows, the FAST REPEAT key on the
ZIOO is equivalent to the Alt key on an
IBM compatible. Labels are supplied for
the keys that will be remapped during the
installation of Windows.
The ’lOO’s DELETE key serves as the
Num Lock key (to shift the numeric
keypad). The BACKSPACE key is used to
delete.
Windows doesn’t seem to place any
fixed limit on how many applications can
be simultaneously stored in memory. (If
you exceed your memory limit, Windows
can swap elements back and forth be¬
tween memory and disk; this can slow
52 Sextant November-December 1987
Alive and Well.
COMPHTFR TYPF- TRADE-IN VALUE, OUR SALE PRICE REFURBISHED
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oduct availability. Software not included.
The Z-100 is alive and well at First Capitol Computer.
We take in used Z-100 computers of all types. If you
have a Z-100 and are interested in trading it in on
another computer, we are happy to work with you. Any
parts or add-ons that you have may also be traded in.
Call us with your list of what you wish to buy and what
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We also sell used Z-100 computers and add-ons,
AND we’ll guarantee their operation for 30 days after
the sale! We stand behind the products we sell.
Don’t forget to check with us for Z-100 products!
We carry upgrades, add-ons, and software that is hard
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1-800-TO-BGY-IT (800-862-8948) orders and quotes
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Call Us First.
And Last.
913
Circle #206 on Reader Service Card
down operations considerably, however.)
Concerning the number of windows on
the screen at the same time, the practical
limit is simply that you would want them
to be large enough to display a reasonable
amount of text or data.
So, you might put the calculator, the
notepad, and the clock display on the
screen all at the same time. The clock
hands will move while you import calcu¬
lations into your current text; at the same
time, the spooler can be printing a docu¬
ment. After inserting your calculations,
you might have a “peek” at your calendar
and incorporate the data on one of your
appointments into the current text.
You might have the clock and the
notepad on the screen and decide to
“zoom” to your calendar to set the alarm
to ring at a particular time. Zoom is a
toggle switch that makes any application
occupy the entire screen for your im¬
mediate use. After the alarm is set, a
zoom will take the screen back to the way
things were before the first zoom; in this
case, it will restore both the clock and the
notepad file.
After a group of applications has been
loaded, zooming an application onto the
whole screen is swift and handy. The
loaded applications themselves work very
quickly and efficiently, particularly if you
load your largest applications first.
Windows will prompt you to put your
applications disk into the A: drive as it is
needed. You can use a clean data disk in
drive A: to store any file that you create.
Using the menus
Menus in Windows are neatly organ¬
ized on the screen. The top line of each
window contains the title line, consisting
of the name of the application (and a file
name, if applicable).
When multiple applications have been
loaded, the background of the title line
reflects which application is currently ac¬
tive. The name will be in normal video—
light letters on a dark background. The
others will have a light background. So,
you might be typing in notepad, with the
calculator in another area of the screen.
Just point to the caleulator’s title line.
Click, and you have shifted to the calcu¬
lator, and the title line has ehanged
accordingly.
Using the keyboard, you can type Alt-
Tab to step through the loaded applica¬
tions, whether they’re showing in
windows or as icons at the bottom of the
screen. Each title line and icon will be
highlighted in order. When the desired
application is highlighted, you select it by
typing Alt-spacebar; the first menu for
that application will then appear. The
subheadings of the menu are titled in the
second line of the active window. After
Alt-spacebar, a right or left arrow will
produce a submenu for each of those
headings.
To select from a menu, you can type the
first letter of the desired command, or
you can scroll through the ehoices with
the up or down arrow, then press RETURN
to execute the command. To get out of the
menu display, press the Escape key.
Once you get the hang of it, using the
menus becomes a series of logical and
The Promise of Microsoft Windows
Windows is intended to provide a
standard graphics environment. In
principle, it is possible to produce a
version of Windows for any MS-DOS
machine. Each version of Windows
will take care of a machine’s particular
hardware. Then, programmers can
write software to run under Windows;
the same version of software that runs
on a ZlOO should run on a 150.
To the extent that Windows be¬
comes popular, therefore, the ZlOO
gains access to software written for the
wider market.
Integration
MS-DOS was designed to run just
one program at a time. But wouldn’t it
be nice if you could keep your word
processor active while you grabbed
data from a spreadsheet? Then
you could plug the data into a
report.
There are a number of programs—
called integrated packages—designed
to do just that. But they do so only
with their specially designed word
processor, their spreadsheet, etc.
Most of the time, those products are
not as good as their stand-alone com¬
petition.
Windows, however, is intended to
let you run your favorite word
processor with your favorite data base,
for example. You shouldn’t have to
worry that they weren’t designed to
work together. Windows should take
care of that.
Well, does it?
Standard applications
It is easy to infer from the Windows
documentation that most ordinary
MS-DOS programs—“standard appli¬
cations”—should run under Win¬
dows.
One limitation mentioned is that
many such programs won’t be able to
share the screen with one another.
But you wouldn’t have to actually exit
the program and save your work
before switching between programs.
So, doing without the multiple display
windows isn’t much of a limitation.
The manual warns you, though, that
with some standard applications, you
may need to save your work before
switching out of them. That’s more
limiting, but at least other loaded
programs shouldn’t be affected—any
data in memory should still be intact.
Unfortunately, programs written for
the ZlOO may be optimized for very
specific hardware details. It’s hard for
the designers of Windows to predict
everything a program might possibly
do. And when your program does the
unpredicted, all bets are off. It may
crash, leaving everything else unaf¬
fected; or it may crash Windows, as
well.
There is only one way to be confi¬
dent that a standard application will
run properly under Windows: try it\
The future?
Windows was first announced in
November of 1983. In microcomput¬
ing, that’s a long time ago. And yet
Windows has still not taken a firm
hold. Initially, it was plagued by
delays in production. The result is that
there has never been the avalanche of
Windows-specific software that some
people expected.
But some software is being specifi¬
cally written to run under Windows.
This software may enable ZlOO users
to move into areas where their “in¬
compatibility” problems have been
most notable: advanced desktop pub¬
lishing, for instance.
Aldus PageMaker, the popular Mac¬
intosh program, is available in a
Windows version. Micrografic of
Richardson, Texas, offers a number of
graphics programs for Windows. An¬
other company moving into Windows
is Palantir; this is a company already
familiar to some of you because they
have long offered their word processor
in Heath/Zenith-specific versions.
John Walker
Aldus
411 1st Avenue South, Suite 200
Seattle, WA 98104
206/622-5500
Micrografx
1820 North Greenville Avenue
Richardson, TX 75081
214/234-1769
The Palantir Corporation
2500 Augustine Drive
Santa Clara, CA 95054
408/986-8006
54 Sextant November-December 1987
ZDRAFT for ZlOO
Now shipping Version 2.0
easily remembered operations. You find
yourself getting what you want without
having to think about it.
Windows application programs
The following programs come with
Windows: CALC.EXE (25K), CALEN¬
DAR. EXE (37K), CARDFILE.EXE (37K),
CLIPBRD.EXE (lOK), CLOCK.EXE (8K),
CONTROL.EXE (52K), NOTEPAD.EXE
(19K), TERMINAL.EXE (47K), and
REVERSI.EXE (15K), a game.
The documentation mentions two
other files, WRITE.EXE and the PIE editor
(pifedit.exe), whose functions are not so
obvious.
In my copy of Windows, I found
PIFEDIT.EXE buried away in the PIE
subdirectory on my FONTS disk. The .PIE
files provide program information to
Windows about applications that you
wish to run while in Windows. Although
it is not altogether clear what that infor¬
mation is and how it works, PIFEDIT
provides for editing or creating such files.
WRITE.EXE is a word processor you
purchase separately.
The notepad
The notepad is not really a word
processor, but it is convenient. It’s good
enough to write and print letters, and I
have written portions of manuscripts with
it. It does word wrapping, and produces
files in ordinary ASCII format. If I am
in a hurry, I write with the notepad and
later transfer the files to WordStar for
proper printer formatting. (Passing them
through the Heath Users’ Group’s
WSCON.COM program will quickly put
them in WordStar format.)
The notepad cannot underline, super¬
script, subscript, or justify, nor can it do
boldface. You will need a word processor
to do those operations.
You can scroll the screen forward and
backward a page at a time. You can move
to the end of a line with a single key¬
stroke. Cursor control is through the
arrow keys.
A few problems
I’ve run into two problems in printing.
(Your printer may behave differently.)
When writing text files that are to be
printed, I ve found that it’s important to
add a blank line or two at the end of the
file; in this way, the printhead returns to
the left margin when the printing is done.
But there seems to be a bug here: some¬
times the extra lines are ignored—leaving
the printhead in the last character posi¬
tion. That’s where the next line of print
will start, unless I turn my printer off and
then on again.
I also run into a problem when sending
three or more tabs in a row. It misinter¬
prets them.
For example, the lines
Tab Tab Tab Tab Firstname Lastname
Tab Tab Tab Tab First address line
will not format with an equal left margin
unless there is copy to be printed both
New printers:
HP LaserJet
Epson LQ1000 24 pin
Command mode with many
new functions.
Greatly expanded text facility^
Read offline text files
Proportional spacing
Microjustification
Command entry from files.
This entire ad is a single
ZDRAFT drawing, made from
an offline command file and
printed on an HP LaserJet;
no reduction for publication.
ZDRAFT is still $139.00;
demo disk and manual are $25.00.
ETTS, Incorporated
P.O. Box 955
Renton, WA 98057-0955
(206) 226-3916
PLOT OF SINE AND
'Ki?--
MS-DOS & CP/M
CALLIGRAPHY II Printer/Graphics
□ur popular CALLIGRAPHY II program is now available for
MS-DOS, as well as CP/M & CP/M-85. The CALLIGRAPHY II package
includes a screen character editor, the GRAPHICS/TEXT FORMATTER
and Font Set 1, a starter set of alphabets, pictures and
borders. Available for EPSON and compatable printers. The
price of the package including complete manual with tutorial,
is <69.00. (Calif, residents please add sales tax.)
The GRAPHICS/TEXT FORMATTER program processes text files
created with your favorite text editor or word processor to
create documents with mixed text and graphics on your dot
matrix printer. (This ad was produced using the GRAPHICS/TEXT
FORMATTER.) It goes beyond most word processing systems in its
ability to mix our custom fonts and graphics with standard
text. Among the features are filling, centering and easy
control of overlays and borders.
Expand the library of fonts and graphics by ordering
Font Sets 2, 3 and 4 at <19.95 each. You can also create your
own with the screen character editor.
U SKYCASTLE H
COMPUTER PRODUCTS
P.O. Box 1412, San Carlos, Ca. 94070
Phone (415) 254-3931
Circle #218 on Reader Service Card
Sextant November-Decemher 1987 55
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A file processor LAN only gives you shared
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lets you run data entry on several PC’s, number
crunching on a 386, intelligent file processing on
an AT/XT, and print spooling. Hardware required:
one PC or compatible. Any MIMDA configuration
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Balance your work load and reduce hardware
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Few code changes required. Call 640K pro¬
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You also get ZapIO, a high speed screen 10
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Turbo Package 2.0
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Circle #213 on Reader Service Card
Micro 3^
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Word Wiz $19
Full Screen Editor
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Directory Utility
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Command Line Editor
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Keyboard Utility
Many other programs
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199 Buckwood Dr.
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(617) 778-1430
Circle #245 on Reader Service Card
before and after the lines with the tab
indentations. Without any copy follow¬
ing, the tabs will just be ignored. Howev¬
er, if the tabs are replaced with spaces, it
will print correctly.
A minor problem is that, so far, I have
not found a way to set text margins
narrower than the notepad window So, I
move another application to the screen,
leaving the notepad in a smaller window.
Then the notepad’s word-wrap function
can reformat the text within the narrower
margins.
The clock is a good companion applica¬
tion with which to perform this function.
You then have both a moving clock and
the notepad file that you are working
with. If Windows’ operations are slug¬
gish, it is an interesting diversion to keep
the clock in the corner of your eye and
watch it stop each time you perform some
action in the notepad, then catch up
when the action is done. (This has made
me a clock watcher, though.)
The calendar
The calendar is particularly interest¬
ing, because it allows you to jump far into
the future, a month at a time, to schedule
an appointment. (Moving through the
calendar a month at a time sounds slow,
and it can be irritating when you’re first
learning how to do it. With practice,
though, it’s quite fast.)
The calendar will ring a bell at an
appointed time; I find this a most useful
feature. I tend to lose contact with the
world while writing, and I completely
forget about pending appointments. The
alarm keeps me on schedule.
The calendar will print out a set of
appointments, ignoring times and dates
that have no appointments on them. Exit¬
ing the calendar involves pointing with a
mouse or pressing a key.
The cardfile
The cardfile is a neatly constructed da¬
ta base utility. It displays a data base as a
series of cards stacked in whatever order
you choose.
The cardfile entries (in whole or in
part) can be printed to a file, then manip¬
ulated with a text editor, such as
WordStar.
The calculator
The calculator looks like a pocket calcu¬
lator; you point to the keys on the screen
and click them with a mouse. If you don’t
have a mouse, you type in the numbers
with the number keys or with the shifted
keypad.
In my copy of Windows, a bug shows
up when I depress the M and + keys
together (to store a value in memory).
This results in a flash of automatic repeats
of that value. The repeats are ignored in
any calculations, but they’re a nuisance. (I
attempted to eliminate the repeats by
sending an escape sequence to the termi¬
nal; this, however, was undone by
Windows’ initialization routines.)
A problem in printing
You might find that your printer doesn’t
work after you follow the setup direc¬
tions. You might also find that the tutorial
in the manual doesn’t cover the details of
printing out a file.
Searching through the menus reveals a
print command—which may not work.
When I invoked that command, an an¬
nouncement flashed on the screen saying
that the file had been transferred to the
spooler. But my Diablo sat silently and
did nothing! No notification, no
warnings, no hung computer, just no¬
thing happened. It was as if the printing
had been successfully completed.
The manual has sections on using a text
editor to change WIN.INI. (This file con¬
tains specifications for a number of sys¬
tem settings, including the port that will
be automatically assigned to a given
printer driver.) However, the changes de¬
scribed there did not work for me. When
I restarted the system after editing
WIN. INI, the printer still would not work.
The problem? The Diablo drivers that
come with Windows are not appropriate
to my Diablo 630; the TTY driver is the
one to use. But that won’t work, either,
unless you also use Windows’ Control
application; among other things, this
program lets you make appropriate com¬
munication settings for printers and
modems. (MS-DOS’s CONFIGUR utility is
not the way to govern serial or parallel
communication while in Windows.) After
you set things up with Control, you can
send the output to a file as well as to a
printer.
Reading the manual, you might con¬
clude that all of this is automatic, but the
first initialization is not automatic. Once
made, however, the settings remain a
permanent part of the system, unless you
want to change to a difierent printer.
Accessing MS-DOS commands
It is possible to format data disks and
create or change disk directories while
in Windows. While Windows’ directory
function will give you just a list of file
names, you can get the full details with
the “Get Info” command from within
Windows.
However, it is also possible to revert to
MS-DOS applications while within Win¬
dows. Thus, if you want, you can look at
the disk-drive directory; you can get all of
the directory information in the form that
you are familiar with.
You can access MS-DOS commands
from within Windows by running
MS-DOS’s command processor (COM¬
MAND. COM) just as if it were any other
program. With a two-drive system, the
Windows System Disk could be in drive
B:. Insert your regular MS-DOS system
disk into drive A: and log onto that drive
with CTRL-A. Then call COMMAND. COM¬
MAND will be running under Windows,
but it will take over the whole screen; no
other windows can be displayed.
You could, if you wished, run a variety
56 Sextant Novemher-Decemher 1987
of applications programs via COM¬
MAND. COM. They operate sluggishly in
this manner, however, and I have experi¬
enced sudden system crashes while
doing this.
Some applications are “safe,” and
others are not. In my experience, GW-
BASIC programs work fine; some text
editors (other than the Windows note¬
pad) may not.
Speed problems
Operations under Windows can be
sluggish. This is mostly associated with
how you have loaded all the applications
you intend to use.
At the start of a session, it is most
helpful to load a series of applications
from Windows’ Executive (main menu).
The Executive shows you a disk directory,
then it’s simply a matter of moving to the
program name in the directory and hit¬
ting SHIFT-ENTER. The program will be
loaded without your having run it. As
soon as programs are loaded, they will
appear at the bottom of the screen as
icons. The system can switch back and
forth between them with alacrity, and
they zoom with ease.
If you wanted, you could just tell the
Windows Executive to load an applica¬
tion when you first needed it during a
session. Depending on what applications
you are using, however, that could make
Windows incredibly slow. (Can you be¬
lieve minutes between striking a key and
seeing the character appear on the
screen? This happened to me only once,
but it did*happen.)
Windows goes much faster if the larg¬
est application (in kilobytes) is loaded
first. You can load and run one application
from the MS-DOS command line that
invokes Windows. My largest application
file is about 5K. This is RWR.CAL, a calen¬
dar file that keeps records of past dates, as
well as my schedule for the future.
So I boot up, then type WIN RWR.CAL.
Loading both Windows and the data file
takes about a minute and a half My calen¬
dar is then active, and I might load the
clock, notepad, and perhaps the calcula¬
tor or the cardfile. Then we are off and
running.
If you haven’t loaded the print spooler,
you’ll have to wait for it to be load¬
ed before printing starts. Subsequent
printouts take much less time. Again, if
it’s speed that you want, load all the
applications at the start of your Windows
session.
Drive accesses are slow, too
Windows is slow when reading from or
writing to floppy disks; it is probably
much better with a hard drive. I find that
it is certainly more convenient with a
memory-disk drive: my two-drive system
functions as a three-drive computer.
I use the RAM disk that comes with the
MS-DOS 2 Programmer’s Utility Pack,
and set it for a size of 192K. (I have an
H/ZIOO with 704K of memory; as noted
above, 512K is recommended for opti¬
mum performance of Windows.) I also set
WIN. INI (the initialization file) so that it
sets the RAM disk (l:) as the “swapping
disk. ” This means that temporary files can
be written to and from the RAM disk,
with all the speed it provides.
Applications can be moved to the RAM
disk by copying them there either before
or after Windows is initialized.
Spoiling yourself
The utilities that come with Windows
are not intended to compete with stand¬
alone programs. Nonetheless, I think
you’ll find them quite useful. Among
them, I found the calendar and cardfile
utilities to be quite well implemented.
What I dislike most is that it takes so
long to initialize Windows using floppy-
disk drives.
But being able to switch among
multiple applications will spoil you; you’ll
miss that capability when outside of
Windows.
One thing is certain, though: You’ll
view computing in a different light—just
by opening some windows, you might
say.
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Circle #207 on Reader Service Card
Use Your 'ISO's Unused
Memory
The Z150 has enough unused RAM to hold a bigger keyboard buffer and some
assembly language software.
David D. Clark
You’ve probably come up against the
old rule: Applications will expand to use
all available memory. It really is true. In
this article and in a sequel, I’ll show
you how to write programs that use a
chunk of the Z 150’s random-access
memory (RAM) not normally accessible
to the Microsoft Disk Operating System
(MS-DOS).
The scratchpad
As you probably know, the Z150 has its
monitor routines and a large part of its
basic input/output system (BIOS) in read¬
only memory (ROM). Some of the rou¬
tines in ROM require RAM as a scratch¬
pad area. That area of RAM takes up 16K
and begins at address FOOOiOOOO. (The
SI (System Information) program that
comes with the Norton Utilities will show
you the scratchpad’s location.)
The surprising thing is that only a small
fraction of that 16K of memory is used for
anything. Zenith’s Programmers Refer¬
ence Manual (TM-I50) gave me my first
hint that this extra RAM could be used for
something other than a scratchpad area
for the ROM routines. The chapter about
the keyboard presents a small program
that uses part of the scratchpad RAM to
increase the size of the keyboard type-
ahead buffer to 4K.
My own experiments indicate that less
than IK of the scratchpad area is used by
the BIOS or monitor routines. To find out
what was going on there, I wrote a pro¬
gram that “takes a picture” of the contents
of the scratchpad area and stores it on
disk. I would take a picture, do some
processing, take another picture, and so
on. Then I compared the “snapshots” of
memory stored on disk. I did the tests
David D. Clark lives in Bristol,
Indiana. He has worked as a technical
editor, and has been published in
Byte magazine and Dr. Dobb’s
Journal.
while running MS-DOS 2.11 and 3.10.
After running lots of applications and
doing lots of comparisons, I found that
the only changes were in the lowest IK of
the scratchpad RAM.
That leaves 15K of unused space. Now,
15K is not all that much by MS-DOS
standards. But it is large enough to
hold some useful programs. Small RAM-
resident programs—such as the keyboard
buffer, a screen saver, a screen clock, or a
Writing programs to
run in the scratchpad
is very much like
writing memory-
resident programs.
program that displays the status of the
keyboard’s Caps Lock and Num Lck
keys—are perfect examples of the types
of programs that could be put in the
unused memory.
In this article and in its sequel. I’ll
discuss how to write programs that load
into and run from the scratchpad
memory.
A word of caution first, though. The
use of the scratchpad memory is not well
documented. It may happen that some¬
day Zenith will decide to use more of the
scratchpad area, or change its size, or
move it to a different location. Un¬
documented features have a habit of
changing from one product to the next
without notice.
Writing programs to run in the
scratchpad is very much like writing
memory-resident programs. In this arti¬
cle, we will rework the keyboard-buffer
program. We can familiarize ourselves
with using the new memory area without
becoming bogged down in details such
as code relocation. With the keyboard-
buffer program we will write, no
executable code is moved into the
scratchpad memory. (Code relocation
comes next time.)
Expanding the keyboard buffer
MS-DOS maintains a 16-character
type-ahead buffer in low memory. The
routine that handles the keyboard-action
interrupt uses this buffer to store key¬
strokes until a program or the operating
system can use them. For example, be¬
cause of some action that must be execut¬
ed, a program may not be able to
completely respond to one keystroke
before the next is entered. A word
processor, say, might be automatically
reformatting a large paragraph as you
type. If you enter characters faster than
the program can respohd, they will be
stored in the keyboard buffer until the
program can accept them.
An entry in the buffer contains the
main byte (often just the ASCII charac¬
ter) and an auxiliary byte (usually the
keyboard scan code, to indicate the key
location that actually produced the char¬
acter); so, each keystroke occupies two
bytes in the buffer.
The buffer is maintained as a circular
list, with a pointer to the head of the list
and another pointer to the tail. Copies of
these pointers are stored in low memory.
The two-byte word at 0040:001A points to
the head of the list, while the word at
0040:00IC points to the tail.
In addition, the Zenith ROM routines
keep a copy of the number of the memory
segment in which the type-ahead buffer
is stored, the offset to its starting point in
that segment, and the offset of the last
byte in the buffer.
These values happen to be stored in the
part of the scratchpad memory that the
ROM does use. The buffer’s segment is
stored in the word at F000:00C8. The
starting offset is stored at F000:00CA,
58 Sextant November-December 1987
Beyond
IBM PC
Compatibility:
Z'lOO users who are ready for PC compatibility, should
keep one thing in mind. The future. New, state-of-the-art
PC software is creating ever greater performance demands
on computer hardware. Large scale, memory intensive
programs for networking, graphics, number crunching
and communications are quickly becoming the rule,
not the exception. But software is only as good as
the system that runs it.
EasyPC will run it all.
Even the newest copy-protected
best sellers. That’s because you
actually boot up PC hardware,
not software translation routines.
Ililllllllllllilll I
m
EasyPC runs faster, too.
Faster than an IBM PC, faster
than a Z-150, and faster than
any other emulation scheme
you can buy.
EasyPC will support a fully integrated
Local Area Network System (LANS)
of 7^100% PC*s and AT*s communicating
at llSKbaud.
Networking is now a reality for Z-lOO users.
EasyPC will fully support a network of up to sixteen Z-lOO’s,
PC’s and AT’s. EasyPC is the core of an integrated system
of components that includes RAM expansion, I/O, math
co-processing, hard disk subsystem and more. For serious
users, it’s the only choice.
Ask to see an EasyPC in action.
Visit your Heath/Zenith Electronics Center or independent
UCI dealer and see how easy it is to turn your Z-100 into a
PC compatible system. For the name of your nearest dealer,
just call 800-UCI-COMPUTER.
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Circle #180 on Reader Service Card
while the word at F000:00CC points to
the last byte in the buffer. To create a
larger type-ahead buffer, we just need to
reserve some space somewhere and reset
all of the pointers accordingly
Programming for the scratchpad
memory
Because the scratchpad area is outside
of the memory managed by MS-DOS,
there are some difficulties in using pro¬
gramming tools designed for MS-DOS
applications. We will work primarily with
assembly language, because it is the only
language that allows us enough flexibility
to do what we want.
A program written to run in the
scratchpad memory can be broken down
into two basic parts: the part that will
actually run in the scratchpad area, and
the code that installs it there. The part of
the program that does the installation can
be written just like any other program
designed to run under MS-DOS.
Before we discuss the installation,
however, we must look at what we will
install.
Designing a program header
When a program is loaded into memo¬
ry, MS-DOS creates a special header
called the Program Segment Prefix, or
simply PSP. The PSP contains lots of in¬
formation that the running program and
operating system can make use of. This
information includes such items as any
arguments given on the command line
(names of files to be DELeted, say),
addresses of error-handling and exit
routines, and so on. (See Table 1 for a
summary of the information contained in
the standard PSP.)
For the programs designed to execute
in scratchpad memory, we will create a
header much simpler than the standard
PSP All of the information in our header
will be used to help in the installation of
programs in scratchpad memory. The
header will be set up so that the programs
may be installed anywhere in the scratch¬
pad RAM, and in any order. (See Table 2
for the contents of our header.)
The first field in the header is what I
call a signature word. It is an easily recog¬
nized and relatively unlikely pair of bytes.
I chose D6 C9 (hexadecimal), because
they do not correspond to any 8086 in¬
structions or ordinary ASCII-text char¬
acters. MS-DOS uses signatures in a
similar way; for instance, they are used to
mark the beginning of the area in ROM
that controls some add-on boards. In our
keyboard-buffer program, we will use a
signature word to detect the presence of a
previously installed program.
The second field consists of eight bytes
containing the name of the program in
ordinary ASCII. Our installation code
can check all the program names in
scratchpad RAM to see if the program it is
attempting to install is already present.
Using an ASCII string for the name
makes debugging easier. Searching mem¬
ory for a readable string is a lot easier than
looking for an arbitrary series of hexadec¬
imal values.
The third field in the header is a word
reserved for the address of the boundary
of the free memory—which is the first
paragraph of scratchpad memory after
the program. A memory paragraph has an
address evenly divisible by 16 (10 hex); a
paragraph is the smallest piece of memo¬
ry that can be referenced by a segment
register. (It will be handy to be able to
reference the free memory by a single
register value.)
The pointer to the paragraph after the
end of the program will point either to
free memory or to the beginning of the
Small RAM-resident
programs are the
types of programs
that could be put in
the unused memory.
next program in a chain of installed
programs. If it points to a word containing
a signature byte, then another program is
already installed there. That program’s
header will provide the installation code
with yet another pointer to possible free
memory.
The search continues until the word
pointed at contains no signature word. An
area of memory without a header can be
considered free for use. The pointer to
the free memory area will then allow the
installing routine to determine if there is
enough space left to install the new
program.
The fourth part of the header is a
variable-length list. Each element in the
list is five bytes long, and corresponds to
one interrupt intercepted by the scratch¬
pad program. The first byte contains the
interrupt number. The remaining four
bytes hold the interrupt vector in effect
before the program was installed. The
installation part of the program is respon¬
sible for filling in these locations.
These interrupt numbers and vectors
follow one another until an interrupt
number of 0 is encountered, indicating
the end of the list. (I hope no one wants to
take over interrupt 0. That is the “Divide
by 0” interrupt.)
The list of intercepted interrupts can
be used for “chaining ” interrupt calls and
Offset
Field
00 - 01
Location of interrupt 20h (program termination)
02 - 03
Memory limit (first address above end of RAM)
04
Reserved; usually 0
05 - 09
Alternate entry point (for CP/M compatibility)
OA - OD
Location of interrupt 22h (terminate-handler)
OE - 11
CTRL-C handler address
16 - 2B
Used by MS-DOS
2C - 2D
Segment address of system-environment data
50 - 52
Function-request dispatcher
5C - 64
First FCB parameter
6C - 7F
Second FCB parameter
80 - FF
Default disk transfer address
80
Parameter length
81 - FF
Parameters
Table 1. Contents of the standard program-segment prefix (PSP). Created by
MS-DOS when a program is located, the PSP is stored in memory immediately
below the program, and serves as a means by which MS-DOS and the program
can exchange information about important system parameters, etc. The author
established a much shorter header to serve a similar purpose for his
scratchpad-RAM programs. (See Table 2.)
Offset
Field
00 - 01
Signature word
02 - 09
Program name
10 - 11
First free-memory address
12-??
List of interrupts to be intercepted
Table 2. Contents of the header for a scratchpad-RAM program. While
containing much less information, this header serves much the same purposes as
a standard MS-DOS PSP. (See Table 1.)
60 Sextant Novemher-December 1987
for later removing a program. The key¬
board buffer alteration described here
does not take over any interrupts. (Next
time, we ll do that.)
The header makes up just about all of
the interesting part of the new keyboard
buffer. The remainder is just space re¬
served for buflPering the keyboard input.
Find free memory
The keyboard-buffer program is
KEYBBUFR.ASM, given in Listing 1. Instal¬
lation is the important part of this key¬
board-buffer program. And one of the
essential parts of this process is finding
out exactly where to install the new buf¬
fer. This is where the design of the header
becomes significant.
Listing 2 is FINDFREE.ASM, a small
routine iNCLUDEd in all of my scratchpad
programs. This is the source code for the
FindFreeMem procedure, which is used
to find the correct location to install the
program. Its operation is described in the
pseudo-code fragment in Listing 3.
If a previously installed copy of the
program is not found, the routine returns
This program will let
you establish an
expanded keyboard
buffer in the
scratchpad RAM.
with the carry flag cleared. The carry flag
is set if the program is already installed.
Either way, the DS register contains a
pointer to the relevant memory para¬
graph. DS points to the available memory,
or to the previously installed copy of the
program.
KEYBBUFR.ASM
Now is the time to start filling in the
details. Let’s examine KEYBBUFR.ASM
(Listing 1) piece by piece.
The program starts with a list of
equates. KeysToBuffer determines the
size of the new buffer. In this case, it will
be large enough to hold 100 keystrokes.
That should be enough for just about
anybody.
The value of FirstFree is the paragraph
address of the first location within the
scratchpad RAM where programs may be
loaded. (The actual first possible location
is lower. FirstFree is IK after the start of
the RAM.)
LastFree is the paragraph boundary of
the first memory area after the scratch¬
pad RAM. (In my system, there is no
memory there.) These two values de¬
termine the location and size of memory
available in which to install scratchpad
programs.
Listing 1. KEYBBUFR.ASM, source code for the program that lets you establish an
expanded keyboard buffer in the RAM ordinarily used only as a scratchpad for
routines stored in the ZI50’s ROM. (Note that KEYBBUFR will INCLUDE the
FINDFREE.ASM source code found in Listing 2. This provides the code that
actually determines where in scratchpad RAM the expanded keyboard buffer
may be placed.)
PAGE
60,132
KEYBBUFR.ASM
— create a large keyboard
type-ahead buffer
in the unused
portion
of MFM-150 scratch pad memory.
David D. Clark
1 January 198?
OldExit
EQU
0 ;
DOS 1 .XX exit function
GetDos
EQU
30h ;
get DOS version number
Terminate
EQU
4ch ;
DOS Terminate Process
SigWord
EQU
0d6c9h ;
signature word
SigLength
EQU
8 ;
length of signature string
KeysToBuffer
EQU
100 ;
number of keystrokes to buffer
BufSize
EQU
(2«KeysToBuffer);
size of required buffer
FirstFree
EQU
0f040h
first free memory paragraph
LastFree
EQU
0f400h ;
last free memory paragraph
cr
EQU
0dh ;
carriage return
If
EQU
0ah ;
line feed
Macros
CStoDS
macro
mov
ax,cs
mov
ds ,ax
endm
DosCall
macro
int
21h
endm
»
TermProc terminates a
process with the
code passed as
an argument.
TermProc
macro
RetVal
mov
ax,((Terminate SHL 8) OR RetVal)
DosCall
endm
9
DispStr displays the j
string whose offset is passed as an argument.
DispStr
macro
String
mov
dx,OFFSET String
mov
ah,9
DosCall
endm
j
TypeStr allocates memory containing the
string passed as
;
argument, then displays it. A cr/lf pair is appended to
5
the string.
TypeStr
macro
String
local
a,b
jmp
SHORT b ;
bypass data definition
a
db
String,cr,lf,
&b&:
DispStr
a
endm
Segment definitions
MonDat
EQU
0F000H ;
Z-100 PC monitor data segment
MonSeg
SEGMENT
AT MonDat
KeyBuffSegment
EQU 0c8h ;
buffer segment
KeyBuffStart
EQU 0cah ;
start offset of buffer
KeyBuffEnd
EQU 0cch ;
end offset of buffer
MonSeg
ENDS
BiosDat
EQU
040H ;
the BIOS system RAM area
BiosSeg
SEGMENT
AT BiosDat ;
compatible data segment
KeyHeadPtr
EQU 1 ah ;
buffer head pointer
KeyTailPtr
EQU Ich ;
buffer tail pointer
BiosSeg
ENDS
Only
SEGMENT
Sextant November-December 1987 61
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ASSUME CS:0nly, DS:0nly, ESrOnly, SS:Nothing
ORG
100h
KeyBuf
PROC
FAR
CodeStart:
JMP
Install
The header for the keyboard buffer in scratchpad memory.
HeaderStart
EQU
$
Header:
Sig
DW
SigWord
; the signature word
SigString
DB
'KEYBBUFR'
; unique application name
FreePtr
DW
9
; pointer to next free memory
IntList
DB
0
; no interrupts replaced
HeaderEnd
EQU
$
HeaderLen
EQU
(HeaderEnd
- HeaderStart)
SigStringOffset EQU
(SigString
- HeaderStart)
FreePtrOffset
EQU
(FreePtr
- HeaderStart)
BufStart
EQU
HeaderLen + 1 ; offset of first byte
BufEnd
EQU
BufStart +
BufSize ; offset of last byte ;
Install — install the memory resident code. First, check
for needed DOS version. Next, call FindFreeMem to check the
scratchpad memory to see if we are already installed. If so,
print an error message and exit. If not already installed,
check tne amount of room left in memory. If insufficient, print
message and exit. Otherwise, if everything looks OK, copy
the header to the location in the scratchpad and reset the
BIOS and ROM monitor pointers to the new buffer.
Install:
; Print out a sign on message.
TypeStr 'KeyBufr — Keyboard Buffer. Ver. 1.0'
; Check for proper DOS version. Need 2.0 or above.
CheckDos:
MOV AH,GetDos
DosCall
CMP AL,2 ; above or below 2.0?
JNB CheckMem
; Wrong version of DOS. Display message and terminate
; using function 0 of INT 21h (since DOS 1.xx does not
; support function 4ch, terminate process).
WrongDos:
TypeStr 'Requires DOS 2.0 or higher.'
MOV AH,01dExit
DosCall
; Check to see if we are already installed and, if not,
; is there enough room to install the buffer. FindFreeMem
; trashes DS, so roDaember to reset it before calls to
; DOS functions that use it as part of a pointer (such as
; 9, to print a string, used in the TypeStr macro).
; FindFreeMem returns with the carry flag set if it finds
; us already installed.
CheckMem:
CALL FindFreeMem ; generic header checker
JNC CheckSpace
; Already installed. Display message and terminate
; process with a return value of 1.
AlreadyInstalled:
CStoDS ; restore DS to this segment
TypeStr 'Already installed,'
TermProc 1
; Check to see if there is enough free memory to
; install the buffer and header.
CheckSpace:
MOV
AX,LastFree
MOV
DX,DS
SUB
AX,DX
JC
NoSpace
MOV
CL,4
; number of paragraphs free
; first free memory paragraph is
; after end of scratchpad
; convert available paragraphs
Circle #191 on Reader Service Card
62 Sextant November-December 1987
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Sextant November-December 1987 63
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64 Sextant Novemher-Decemher 1987
Circle #113 on Reader Service Card
After the equates eomes a section of
assembler macros. They just make life
easier by taking a frequently used block of
code and putting it in one place; it can
then be called as needed, rather than be
repeated.
(The DispStr and TypeStr macros are
from the book MS-DOS Developers
Guide by John Angermeyer and Kevin
Jaeger, published by Howard W Sams &
Co., Indianapolis, 1986. This is a very
good book for anyone interested in a
detailed look at some of the inner
workings of MS-DOS.)
After the macros is a section with some
segment definitions. The segment defini¬
tions supply the assembler with certain
information about memory locations re¬
ferred to by the installation portion. They
are also handy to remind the programmer
of that same information.
MonSeg refers to the location of
variables used by the ROM BIOS (and
kept in the scratchpad area). BiosSeg
refers to locations in low memory that are
also used by the BIOS.
The last segment definition is the real
program segment, called Only. The AS¬
SUME statements tell the assembler which
segment registers to use to access vari¬
ables in a given segment. Based on its
knowledge of the contents of the segment
registers, the assembler can decide
which instructions to generate when cer¬
tain references to data are made in the
program.
Because KEYBBUFR will be assembled
into a .COM file, it will execute entirely in
one 64K segment. Therefore, the CS, DS,
and ES registers will be loaded with the
value of the Only segment when the
program is loaded. Also, since this will
be a COM program, it will originate at
lOOh.
Next comes the declaration of the FAR
PROCedure KeyBuf. The first executable
statement in the program is simply a
jump to the installation part and past the
part that will become memory resident.
The memory-resident portion
The only memory-resident part of the
program is the header discussed above.
And it is a rather simple header at that. It
consists of the signature word, a string
containing the program name, a word to
hold the pointer to the next free memory
location, and an interrupt list with one
entry. Because no interrupts will be
intercepted by this program, the only
entry in the interrupt list is a single
byte, 00.
Because the installation part of the
program will determine where the pro¬
gram will be loaded, the source code does
not specify a value for the word at
FreePtr. The additional equates following
the header will aid in installation.
That is all there is to the memory-
resident part of the program. In the
source code, we do not even need to
reserve any space for the buffer. That
space will be reserved when the installa¬
tion portion of the program fills in the
word at FreePtr and sets the various
BIOS pointers.
Install the buffer
The real working part of KEYBBUFR
begins at Install. When KEYBBUFR ex¬
ecutes, it first prints a sign-on message
giving its name, purpose, and version.
Next, the program checks the version
of MS-DOS being run. KEYBBUFR makes
use of features that are present only in
version 2 or later. If the program detects
that it is running on an earlier version, it
displays an error message and exits.
If the version of MS-DOS is satisfacto-
SHL
AX, CL
; to bytes
SUB
AX,BufEnd
; check for room
JNC
AllOK
; there is sufficient memory
; Not enough memory to install the buffer. Display
; message and terminate process with a return value of 2.
NoSpace:
CStoDS ; restore DS to this segment
TypeStr ’Insufficient memory.'
TermProc 2
; Everything seems OK, so put pointer to next free
; memory area into the header, copy the header to
; the free memory, and change the BIOS pointers.
; Create a pointer to the next paragraph of free memory
; by rounding the size of the header and buffer to the
; nearest paragraph size then adding it to DS, which
; contains the paragraph of the start of the memory
; area to be reserved.
AllOK:
MOV AX,DS
ADD AX,(BufEnd + 15) SHR M
MOV CS:FreePtr, AX
; Now move the header to the scratchpad area. Point DS:SI
; to local version of header, point ES:DI to scratchpad,
; then transfer.
MOV
DX,DS
PUSH
ES
POP
DS
MOV
ES,DX
MOV
SI,OFFSET Header
XOR
DI,DI
MOV
CX,HeaderLen
REP
MOVSB
; Now reset the pointers to the keyboard buffer. It is
; assumed that ES still holds a pointer to the segment
; of scratchpad memory being set aside as the key buffer.
SetPtrs:
MOV AX,MonSeg ; point to monitor segment
MOV DS,AX
ASSUME DS:MonSeg
MOV WORD PTR DS:KeyBuffSegment,ES ; set buffer segment
MOV WORD PTR DS;KeyBuffStart,BufStart; set start of buffer
MOV WORD PTR DS-.KeyBuf f End, Buf End ; set end of buffer
MOV AX,BiosSeg ; point to BIOS data segment
MOV DS,AX
ASSUME DS:BiosSeg
MOV WORD PTR DS:KeyHeadPtr,BufStart ; set buffer head ptr
MOV WORD PTR DS:KeyTailPtr,BufStart ; set buffer tail ptr
; Say that install was OK and terminate process
; with a return value of 0.
GoodEnd:
CStoDS ; restore DS to this segment
TypeStr 'Installed'
TermProc 0
KeyBuf ENDP
INCLUDE FINDFREE.ASM
Only ENDS
END CodeStart
Sextant November-December 1987 65
ry, the program calls FindFreeMem
(Listing 2). If the subroutine returns with
an indication that a copy of the program is
already installed, the program displays an
error message and exits. There is no
sense in installing a duplicate keyboard
buffer, since you would just “orphan” the
memory used by the first buffer.
If the program has not been installed
previously, the installation code checks to
determine if there is sufficient free mem¬
ory in the scratchpad RAM to hold the
buffer and header. It does so by first
checking to see if the address of the first
free memory paragraph (contained in the
DS register at this point) is beyond the
end of the available RAM. If not, a check
is made to see if there are enough free
bytes to hold both the buffer and the
memory-resident part of the program. If
there is not enough free memory, then
(you guessed it) an error message is dis¬
played and the program exits.
If execution of the program reaches
this point, it is just about home free. The
environment is acceptable for running
the scratchpad program.
All that remains is to set FreePtr, move
the header to the correct location in
scratchpad RAM, and reset all of the
BIOS pointers. That is exactly what the
next part of the program does. The previ¬
ously defined equate BufEnd is used to
set FreePtr by rounding up to the nearest
memory paragraph; the value obtained is
then added to the starting location of the
memory-resident part of the program
(contained in the DS register).
Notice that the process of resetting the
pointers also effectively clears the type-
ahead buffer. It happens by setting the
head and tail pointers to the same value.
That means we will lose any characters
typed after the command line that in¬
vokes KEYBBUFR, but before the program
reaches the point of resetting the point¬
ers. This happens quickly enough so that
it is very unlikely well lose any
characters; in any case, though, the key¬
board buffer is now in a new location and
contains no characters.
At this point, the program has success¬
fully installed the new buffer, and dis¬
plays a message to that effect before exit-
An essential part of
installation is finding
out exactly where to
install the new buffer.
ing. There will be no difference in the
way the computer behaves, except that a
lot more characters may be entered faster
than they are accepted.
Assembly and operation
The steps involved in assembling the
program are easy. At the MS-DOS com¬
mand line, the steps are:
MASM KEYBBUFR
LINK KEYBBUFR
EXE2BIN KEYBBUFR KEYBBUFR.COM
The program will assemble with MASM
version 1.27 (very slow; included with the
MS-DOS Version 2 Programmer’s Utility
Pack), version 3 (slow; previously includ¬
ed with the MS-DOS Version 3 PUP) or
version 4 (fastest; included in recent PUP
shipments). Ignore the linker’s warning
about the stack segment. There isn’t
supposed to be a stack segment in a .COM
file.
To install the enlarged keyboard buffer,
just type KEYBBUFR at the MS-DOS sys¬
tem prompt. KEYBBUFR may be invoked at
any time. Since it does not intercept any
interrupts, its installation doesn’t inter¬
fere with any “conventional” memory-
resident programs. You can change the
size of the buffer by just changing the
KeysToBuffer equate and reassembling
the program.
Note that changing the keyboard buffer
works with most applications. However,
FindFreeMem — find the first available free memory in the unused
scratchpad area. Return with the carry flag reset and DS
containing the paragraph of the available memory. If the carry
flag is set on return, a header with a signature string matching
our own was found. DS will contain the paragraph of the matching
header.
This routine expects the values of FirstFree, SigWord, SigString,
SigStringOffset, FreePtrOffset and SigLength to be defined in the
module that INCLUDES this one.
FindFreeMem
PROC
NEAR
MOV
AX,FirstFree ;
DS:BX -> first free memory paragraph
MOV
DS,AX
XOR
BX,BX ;
clear BX
CLD
auto increment pointers
FindFreel:
MOV
AX,SigWord ;
copy of signature word
CMP
AX,WORD PTR [BX]
; look for signature word
JZ
Checkstring ;
if there, jump to check string
CLC
not here, so clear carry
RET
and return
Checkstring:
MOV
DI,OFFSET SigString ; check signature string
MOV
SI,SigStringOffset ; offset in header
MOV
CX,SigLength ;
length of signature string
REPE
CMPSB
JNE
NoMatch ;
no match
STC
f
match, already here, so set carry
RET
1
and return
NoMatch:
MOV
AX, WORD PTR [BX]4FreePtrOffset ; get pointer to next free
MOV
DS,AX
JMP
SHORT FindFreel
FindFreeMem
ENDP
Listing 2. FINDFREE.ASM provides the FindFreeMem procedure that determines
where in scratchpad RAM KEYBBUFR (Listing 1) can place the keyboard buffer.
FINDFREE will be iNCLUDEd in the KEYBBUFR program during assembly.
Point to the first possible free memory paragraph.
LOOP
IF the first word is not the signature word THEN BEGIN
Clear the carry flag.
Return with DS register containing free paragraph.
END
ELSE BEGIN
IF the signature string matches our own THEN BEGIN
Set the carry flag.
Return with DS register containing the paragraph
of the matching program.
END
ELSE BEGIN
Get pointer to paragraph after this program.
Continue the search at the beginning of the loop.
END
END
ENDLOOP
Listing 3. A “pseudo-code” description of the operation of the FindFreeMem
procedure given in Listing 2.
66 Sextant November-December 1987
Listing 4. PRNHDR.C source code (written for version 2 of the Datalight C
compiler). If programs have been stored in scratchpad RAM and marked by a
signature word (as described in the text), PRNHDR will report their presence and
indieate any interrupts they are designed to intercept. A sample PRNHDR report
is given in Listing 5.
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prnhdr — display the chain of scratchpad program headers that
are currently installed in memory.
Compiled with Datalight C ver. 2.0. Must be compiled with the
-a option to override the default alignment of structure
members on word boundaries. The program must be compiled with
one of the flags -md or -ml in order to use long pointers to
the scratchpad memory area.
Also note that the structure of the interrupt list record is
given but not actually used. This is because structures are
always aligned on word boundaries, but successive elements in
the list will not be on word boundaries since the interrupt
list elements are 5 bytes long.
Version 1.0
David D. Clark
2 February 198?
#include
<stdio.h>
#define
FIRSTFREE
0xf01|00
/»
#define
LASTFREE
0xf4000
/•
#define
SIGNATURE
0xd6c9
/•
#define
SIGLENGTH
8
/•
#define
PARALENGTH
16
/»
/•
This IS the structure of an interrupt list member. It
is not actually used in the program since all structures
are allocated on word boundaries. In the scratchpad
programs, the elements of the interrupt list are
allocated on byte boundaries.
typedef struct intrecord {
char intnumber;
unsigned short intoffset;
unsigned short intsegment;
} INTRECORD;
• This is the structure of the header for a scratchpad
• program. In the program, the pointer to the interrupt
list, "firstintr", is cast to a character pointer and
• used as such.
typedef struct header {
unsigned short sigword;
char sigstrCSIGLENGTH];
unsigned short next;
INTRECORD firstintr;
} HEADER;
mainO
{
HEADER •hp;
int i;
char •sp;
char •ip;
unsigned short •vp;
/• used as a pointer to each header •/
/• counter •/
/• used as a pointer to signature strings •/
/• used as a pointer to INTRECORDs »/
/• used as a pointer to seg and ofs •/
hp = (HEADER *) FIRSTFREE;
/• point to the first location •/
/• while we find program headers in a chain •/
while (hp->sigword == SIGNATURE)
{
/• display the information in the header •/
printf("Header signature found at 0x$051x.\n", (long) hp);
printf(" The application name is: ");
for (i = 0, sp = hp->sigstr; i < SIGLENGTH; i++, sp++)
putchar(*sp);
puts(".");
printf(" It occupies 0x$04lx bytes of memory.\n",
(long) PARALENGTH » (long) hp->next - (long) hp);
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Sextant November-December 1987 67
/•
•• This messy "for" statement is due to the way
•• structures are stored. As mentioned above,
•• structures are stored on word boundaries.
We use a character pointer to get at the
»• interrupt list elements stored on byte
•* boundaries.
»/
if ((char *) &(hp->firstintr))
printf(" Interrupts preempted are:\n");
for (ip = (char *) &(hp->firstintr); •ip != '\0’; )
{
printf(" Interrupt 0x$02x\n", •ip);
/• point to offset •/
vp = (unsigned short •) ++ip;
printf(" Original offset = 0x$04x.\n", •vp);
/• point to segment •/
vp = (unsigned short •) (ip += 2);
printf(" Original segment = 0x$04x.\n", •vp);
/• point to next interrupt number •/
ip +r 2;
}
putchar('\n');
/• point to next header in the chain •/
hp = (HEADER •) ((long) PARALENGTH • (long) hp->next);
printf("No signature found at 0x$051x.\n\n", (long) hp);
printf("0x$051x ($ld) bytes of memory free.Xn",
LASTFREE - (long) hp, LASTFREE - (long) hp);
exit(0);
}
Header signature found at 0xf04(Jf0.
The application name is: KEYBBUFR.
It occupies 0x00e0 bytes of memory.
Header signature found at 0xf04e0.
The application name is: KEYBREAK.
It occupies 0x0040 bytes of memory.
Interrupts preempted are:
Interrupt 0x09
Original offset = 0xbe48.
Original segment = 0xf000.
Header signature found at 0xf0520.
The application name is: SCRNSAVE.
It occupies 0x08f0 bytes of memory.
Interrupts preempted are:
Interrupt 0x09
Original offset = 0x0012.
Original segment = 0xf04e.
Interrupts preempted are:
Interrupt 0x10
Original offset = 0x8d74.
Original segment = 0xf000.
Interrupts preempted are:
Interrupt 0x1c
Original offset = 0xe922.
Original segment = 0xf000.
Header signature found at 0xf0e10.
The application name is: COLRCLOK.
It occupies 0x0170 bytes of memory.
Interrupts preempted are:
Interrupt 0x1c
Original offset = 0x07f8.
Original segment = 0xf052.
No signature found at 0xf0f80.
0x03080 bytes of memory free.
Listing 5. Output from a sample run of the PRNHDR program (Listing 4). In this
case, PRNHDR reports the presence of some of the scratchpad-RAM programs
the author has created, and gives the interrupts they are designed to intercept.
(The first program, KEYBBUFR, given in Listing 1, is not designed to intercept
any interrupts.)
some programs that stuff characters
directly into the buffer may fail if they
make assumptions about the location of
the buffer.
Examining the headers of installed
programs
It can be pretty hard to tell if programs
such as KEYBBUFR are actually “alive.” The
C program in Listing 4, PRNHDR, will
examine the scratchpad memory area and
print the contents of the chain of installed
program headers. (PRNHDR.C is written
for use under version 2 of the Datalight C
compiler.)
Listing 5 is a sample of the output
produced by the PRNHDR program. It tells
you where programs are, what they are
named, the interrupts they will inter¬
cept, and where the next program should
be located.
(Even though C is a relatively “low-lev¬
el” high-level language, look at all the
trouble it is just to print out the contents
of memory. Turbo Pascal might do it more
easily, but I did not have the gumption to
try it.)
The source and executable files for all
of the programs listed in this article and
in its sequel are available on a double-
sided/double-density 5^/ MS-DOS flop¬
py disk. Also included on the disk are
source and executable files for a screen¬
saver program and an on-screen clock
program. The disk may be obtained by
sending a check or money order for $25 to
the author, at the address below.
Next time
In the next installment, we will look at
what is involved in writing programs that
will execute in the scratchpad memory.
We will develop a short program to create
a “hot key” to invoke the ROM monitor at
any time from the keyboard. Besides be¬
ing instructive, the program is very use¬
ful. Other topics that will be discussed
include code relocation and a little on
interrupt handling.
Ordering Information
David D. Clark
North Division Street
Bristol, IN 46507
Programmers Reference Manual^
TM-I50, $25.
MS-DOS Version 3 Programmer’s
Utility Pack, model #CB-3163-30,
$225.
Heath Company
Benton Harbor, MI 49022
Orders: 800/253-0570; in Michigan and
Alaska, 6I6/982-34II
Datalight C Compiler, v. 2, $99.
Datalight
PO Box 82441
Kenmore, WA 98028
206/367-1803 A
68 Sextant November-December 1987
Qj m
Z150/160
HARDWARE ENHANCEMENTS
TURBOPLUS V2.0
High Performance From Your 150/160 (Sl=2.8)
Software or Hardware Speed Select at Any Time
Reset From Keyboard at Either Speed
100% Software Compatibility
Correct DOS Clock
Simple, Reversible, Installation
Complete With PC Board, Software, V—20,
and High Speed Chips
TurboPlus V2.0 WORKS Where Others Fail!
Price $125 ppd.
VMM 150 VIDEO CARD ELIMINATOR
Use ANY Video Card in 150 (even GB-1)
REMOVE the Heath/Zenith Card
Free One Standard Size Slot
Use Less Power, Run Cooler
Simple Plug-In Installation
Includes PC Board, Decoder and New Back Panel
Price $45 ppd.
TERMS: Check or Money order, UPS COD $1.90 extra.
Dante Bencivengo, P.O. Box 234, Wyandotte, Ml 48192
1 ^ ABSOLUTE 15 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE r Fi
Circle #193 on Reader Service Card
CPA II
Personal Accounting
for IBM PC Compatible Systems
A popular system now made even better! All
the features of our earlier system, with many
new ones. But, best of all...
NEW Pricing... Now only $59.00
NEW Features and Capabilities
NEW Hierarchical Menus
NEW Easy Set-up Procedure
NEW On-line Help Screens
NEW Mortgage, Loan, Investment and
Depreciation Utility
Any number of Vendor, Cash and Checking accounts
desired. User-specified Expense and Income categories.
Check printing, auto-posting, spreadsheets, bar graphs, tax
deductions, accounts-coming-due, budgets, and many other
detailed reports. Auto-checkbook reconciliation. Easy user-
command entry. Full edit capabilities. Fast and efficient. Can
be used with any printer for all reports and bar graphs. Not
copy-protected.
Requires 256K RAM, color video, RGB monitor, at least 2
disk drives (2 floppies, or 1 hard disk and 1 floppy), MS-DOS
2.1 or greater. Monochrome version to be announced.
REICHERT DIGITAL SYSTEMS _
P.O. BOX 2046, BREVARD, NC 28712
Circle #151 on Reader Service Card
UP YOUR RAM
AND OTHER H/Z DISCOUNT ENHANCEMENTS
256K D-RAMS, 150ns: 9/$31, or package priced as shown
120ns for Z240 - 9/$34, 100ns for Z248 - 9/$40
Z-100 Motherboard kit to maximize memory to 768K,
Z-MAX only $49, with 27 256K RAM’s for $139.
ZMFIOOa by FBE, old Z-100 NO WIRE kit, $59, $149 w/27
Z-100 RAMBOARD by UCI, new version for 192K or 768K,
8mhz, RAMDISK software, .5MB/$399, 2MB/$579.
Z205 Upgrade Kit to use 256K’s creating 1MB RAMDISK,
wiring required, $44, $134 w/27 RAM, $164 w/36 RAM
Z-150/160 640/704K Upgrade using PAL chip for $19,
with 18-256K DRAMS, $79
1.2MB using PAL & 5 banks 256K with RAMDISK software
as reviewed by REMark 8/86, $194, $134 w/3 banks 256K’s,
$44 w/no RAM, specify system memory of 640 or 704K.
PAL to utilize 704K instead of 640K, $19, $79 w/18
Z-200 Memory Board, 1.5MB/2 serial/parallel/game,
bare $159, w/120ns $359, w/IOOns $399, 3MB option
EASY PC - UCI’s three board set for complete IBM
hardware/software compatability, $459.
ZVM135 cable with intensity control for 16 IBM colors, $22
Utility disk with drivers, communications, diagnostics, $39
I/O board with single IBM COM port, $89, with 2 COM
ports, game port & clock, $119
NEW UCI PRODUCTS - check on availability of the following:
EasyMATE 8” & cross partition drivers, LANIink network
software & hardware. Expansion chasis for PC, Z148, Z100,
improved RAMSAVER, etc.
MATH CO-PROCESSOR SUPPORT, (JCI daughter board for
use with Easy PC or plain Z-100 motherboard. $75
8087-2 math chip, 8mhz, $155. UCI board & chip, $225.
80287-3, Math chip for Z-200, 6mhz, $169, 8mhz, $239
HARD DISK UPGRADES CDR’s 317 SCSI
interface card, $329, with SCSI 20MB drive, $699
40MB $899
UCI’s EasyWIN interface card $249, with WD/20MB $549,
WD-RLL/30MB $599, WD-RLL/60MB/40ms $849
HIGH DENSITY CONTROLLER RLL card for PC clones, $109
packaged with 30MB hard disk for $349, with 60MB,
40ms access, half high by Seagate for $599
OTHER PRODUCTS:
V-20 by NEC for faster 8088 execution, 8mhz version, $12.
Z-100 speed-up kit, 7.5mhz by CDR, $39
8mhz by UCI, 2 daughter boards, switch, many upgrade
chips, specify old or new motherboard, $135
CLOCKS - SMARTWATCH ROM socket plug-in for Z-100
& PC’s, $35, add $2 for Z-100 spacers.
1.2MB 5-1/4” floppy drive, $129, cable for Z-100, $29
2400 baud Anchor Lightning ext. modem, “HAYES”, $249
1200 baud no frills internal or external modem by
Weltec, $79
DOTS PERFECT-ROM Upgrade for Epson MX,FX,JX, $59
GAME PORT CARD for PC Clones $25, WINNER
JOYSTICK, $29
We specialize in the unusual,
state of the art upgrades. Our
prices reflect the current
market as of 9/11/87, but they
are subject to change up or
down, especially the RAM
prices. Quantity Discounts
available. P.O.’s accepted
from government, schools,
and large corporations.
Shipping and handling
charges are $5 for small
chip kits, $10 for large board
sets, etc. add extra $5 for
P.O.’s, COD’S, & A.P.O.’s.
Graymatter Application Software
1601 TOWNSHIP LINE ROAD
NORRISTOWN, PA 19401-1146
(215) 279-4460
BOB GRAY
WE VISIT MOST MAJOR HUG CONFERENCES
Circle #131 on Reader Service Card
Sextant November-December 1987 69
Welcome to the Everex world
OF H/Z HIGH QUALITY UPGRADE
For H/Z-138, 148, 150 , 158 , and 160
Fully compatible with HS-317, supports all boot commands, boot directly from
Hard Disk without seeking drive A. Extremely fast transfer! Up to 100% faster than
ZW-248 and 500% faster than ZW-158.
Seagate (20MB) WHD 20Z
Seagate (30MB) WHD30RZ
$399.’"
$469.’*
ZW-158 ZW-248 Z150/w Z158/ Z158/WHD
WHD-ZOZ WHD 30RZ 30RZ and
WEX 286-8Z
Core® Test Comparison Chart
Fast Hard Disk
For H/Z-200, 248, and 300s
up to 160% faster than ZW-240 in average access time. WHA-40Z
Up to 400% more storage (80MB). Runs MS-DOS, Xenix, WHA-80Z
Novell, and 3Com. WHA-70Z
$499."*
$589."®
$699.®*
$1059.*®
$1159.*®
Average Storage
access time Capacity MB
ZW-240 WHA-20Z WHA-30Z WHA40Z WHA-80Z WHA-70Z
Storage edacity and access time comparison chart
Tape drive for H/Z 140, 150 , and 160
Backup 20MB in 4 minutes, extremely reliable backup operation. Internal or
External Drives, user friendly software, Image/file-by-file. Works with Novell and
Xenix.
ExCELERATOR (WEX 286-8)
80286 at 8 MHz, faster than Z-200. On board I 6 bit wide, 0 wait state RAM. 4-5
times faster than Z-150. Optional 5/8 MHz 80287 Math Co-processor. Perfect
companion for WHD30RZ Hard Disk.
6 OMB
60 MB External
120MB Internal
120MB External
Additional
$ 729 .®®
$659.®®
$ 1199 .®®
Xenix driver
3
Starting at
$ 359 .««
Z^248 M50/
WEX286-8
CPU Performance Comparison Chart * Software Wizardry
Total Heath/ Zenith compattbiuty and
RELIABILITY BY Wong S ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
$149
EvERCOM 300/1200
★ User definable
★ Powerftil script commands C ^ CO
★ Stores up to 32K numbers with different ^ ^
communication parameters Excellent for long distance call
★ Reliable even on noisy lines. FCC class *8’ qiproved
★ Half size,
★ Configurable to COM 1 to COM 4
★ Fully Hayes compatible
★ BitCom communication software
★ Emulates VT-100, IBM 3101, VT-52
★ User definable
★ Powerful script commands
★ Stores up to 32K numbers with different
communication parameters
★ Reliable even on noisy lines.
$125
Evergraphics
★ Hercules 720 x 348 Monochrome graphics/64K
★ High Resolution text for W.P./Text editing
★ Spread sheet
★ High Resolution graphics for Acad,
Lotus 1-2-3, and D.P.
★ Expandable to EGA
(TTL Monochrome monitor required)
^ $229
★ 640 X 350/16 colors from a pallette of 64
★ 256 k ram
★ Short card—5” long
★ W.P./color
★ Lotus 1-2-3, Acad, and M.S. window
★ Works with all 3 different monitors (EGA monitor
is required to take full advantage
of the EGA Mode.)
$239
Enhancer
★ 640 X 350/16 colors from a pallette of 64
★ 256K RAM
★ W.P./ color
★ Lotus 1-2-3, Acad, and window
★ Works with all 3 different monitors (EGA monitor
is required to take full advantage
of the EGA Mode.)
★ 2/3 size
★ With 1 parallel port—configurable
as LPT 1-LPT 3
$950
Epga
★ Fully PGA compatible
★ 640 X 480/256 colors out of pallette of 4096
★ Emulates, HGA & CGA concurrently operating on
one monitor
★ 8 MHz 80286/512K RAM/TI Graphics controller to
perform 2D and 3D graphics commands. For
example: lines, viewing transformations, and
more at a very high speed.
★ For CAD engineering. Scientific and Educational
(PGA monitor required)
RAM Board, (Ik $179
RAM Chips (installed) 1/2MB I50ns $56.’'
RAM Chips (installed) 1/2MB 120ns $62.’'
★ Add up to 3MB of extended memory on 1 board,
5MB with piggy back RAM for Z-200/248
★ High speed, up to 12 MHz operation
★ Compatible with Novell, MS DOS 5.0, Xenix, and
RAM disk for MS DOS 3.1
) ★ Free software
^ RAM Chips (installed) 1/2MB 100ns CALL
With^K $195
Magic i6
(MuMifunction Card for Z-200)
★ Add Up to 2MB extended memory
★ 1 parallel, 1 serial port,
optional 2nd serial
★ Free software
$119
★ Up to 2MB of expanded memory
★ For RAM disk
★ Print spooling
★ Run Lotus 1-2-3, MS Window and more
★ Up to 4MB with piggy-back board
CALL
Ems
* 16 bit of z-200
ORDER TOLL FREE 3201 Loyola Drive INSIDE LOUISIANA
(800) 626-1030 Kenner, Louisiana 70065 (504) 464-7379
Wong s ADVANCED technologies, inc.
ORDER TOLL FREE 3201 Loyola Drive
(800)626-1030 Kenner, Louisiana 70065
INSIDE LOUISIANA
(504)
★ Outstanding print quality and performance
★ High-speed draft and fine near-letter-
quality printing
★ Front Control Panel for easy operation
★ Tractor and Friction feeds
★ lEM""*" and Epson^^compatible
★ Full one-year Warranty
100 cps NP-10
120 cps NX-10
120 cps NX-15
180 cps ND-10
180 cps ND-15
216 cps NB-2415 (24 pin)
200 NB-15 (24 pin)
NB-15
TeKNIKAM3-503 13”
MUin-STANDARD
MONITOR
★ 926 x 580 Super High Res.
★ cga/ega/pga/analog
★ 16/64/4^ colors
★ Works with Z-100, Z-100 PCs,
Z-200, and Z-386
Magnavox
TTL-MONOCHROME
★ Nonglare Amber or Green
★ 12” screen
★ 1000 lines of resolution
★ FCC class ‘B’ approved
We also carry a ftiU-line of
Mitsubishi and Sony monitors.
Please call for more information.
$499
★ Perfect match for EPGA and
Micro Enhancer Deluxe
$469
•ADD $15 for DR. HALO
MiTSHIBISHI 1410
14” EGA MONITOR
★ 640 X 350 EGA
★ 640 X 200 CGA
★ FCC class ‘B’ approved
★ Auto contrast
M2 Mouse
★ No slot needed, work through SIO
★ Removable Nylon Ball
gives positive response
★ Works with all major software
supporting a mouse
★ A must for Lotus, MS window
and Acad
We accept pre-paid, COD orders. Credit card purchases please call. Shipping charges minimum: $3.00 for the first 3 lbs. via UPS ground. Louisiana residents add 8% sales
tax. No return merchandise will be accepted without an RMA number. Return merchandise are subject to a 15% restocking fee. Prices are subject to change without notice.
Circle #227 on Reader Service Card
Supplier Notes
A Program That Simulates Logical Processes
Input
In I t .
B
Out
BV Engineering’s LSP program simulates digital logic circuits.
Now you can actually see how logical
devices work. BV Engineering has re¬
leased a menu-driven digital logic simula¬
tion program for the IBM PC and com¬
patibles. Given a description of a logic
circuit and a sequence of binary input
signals, LSP computes the resulting binary
output signals at any or all nodes of the
circuit at the specified times.
LSP then produces a timing diagram,
showing the binary states of each selected
signal as a function of time. Both input
and output data can be saved to data files
for future use.
LSP contains built-in models for com¬
binatorial devices such as AND, OR, NAND
gates, etc., and sequential devices such as
D, JK, and toggle flip-flops, as well as
tri-state devices. Signals, inputs, and out¬
put nodes may be defined by common
and easily remembered names. Each sig¬
nal can be assigned a delay time ranging
from 1 to 255 user-defined time units. LSP
handles all time scheduling, and ac¬
curately propagates the input and com¬
puted output results through the design,
regardless of the complexity or nesting of
feedback loops.
LSP provides for zero (0), one (1),
don’t know (X), and high-impedance (Z)
states. Each state is properly propagated
through the circuit. Multiple data-file in¬
put is allowed, supporting the concepts of
structured/partitioned designs and tests.
Both periodic and aperiodic input sig¬
nals can be specified. Both types of input
may be mixed in a single design, simplify¬
ing input data entry. Signals can be edited
with the built-in input-signal editor.
LSP provides for full output control,
including periodic sampling, single-step,
breakpoint interrupt, and signal-change
interrupt (useful for “glitch” detection).
(You can specify outputs initially, as well
as inputs.)
LSP is menu-driven and interactive.
ASCII input files may be created from
within LSP, or you can use your own editor
or software written in BASIC, Pascal, etc.
When used with BV Engineering’s PC-
PLOT and/or PDP, LSP allows you to do
full-screen, printer, and plotter graphics.
LSP supports keystroke macros of un¬
limited length. Auto-execute and batch
modes allow you to execute and operate
LSP unattended, from a file instead of
from the keyboard.
Retail price for LSP is $95. The package
is available for IBM-PC compatibles un¬
der MS-DOS 2 or higher; a version is also
available for the Apple Macintosh.
Contact BV Engineering, 2200 Busi¬
ness Way, Suite #207, Riverside, CA
92501; 714/781-0252.
The Z286—IBM-PC-AT Compatibility at an Affordable Price
Built around an Intel 80286 central
processing unit, Zenith Data Systems’
new IBM-PC-AT-compatible computer,
the Z286, may not quite match the per¬
formance of its cousin, the ’248. But the
machine will at least give users compati¬
bility at an affordable price.
The ’286 features compact styling, an
AT/XT bus, a choice of 3 V 2 " or 5 V 4 " disk
drives, 640-by-480-pixel resolution, and
an enhanced 101-key keyboard—all for
under $3,000. The machine comes stan¬
dard with 512 kilobytes of random-access
memory (RAM), and is expandable to
about 15 megabytes. Also included are
one parallel and one serial port, four open
expansion slots, and a real-time clock and
calendar.
Improved video is a noticeable charac¬
teristic of the ’286. All popular video
modes are supported through the Z449
video card. The card enables software to
work equally well on new digital and ana¬
log monitors, and older RGB and TTL
monitors.
Zenith plans to market three con¬
figurations of the ’286: Model 3, with two
3y2" floppy drives, for $2,399; Model 23,
with one SVI' 1.44-MB floppy drive, a
20-MB hard-disk drive, and Microsoft
Windows, for $2,999; and Model 25,
similar to Model 23, but with a BVI' 1.2-
MB floppy drive, also for $2,999.
Even though its memory capability is
greater than that of some other AT-
compatible machines, the ’286 is still 24%
smaller than the ’248. The ’286 weighs
about 40 pounds, and measures 16" wide
X 6 ^ 4 " high X 16V 2 " deep.
To round out the package. Zenith is
shipping version 3.21 of the Microsoft
Disk Operating System (MS-DOS) with
all machines. This has disk caching for
hard and floppy drives. The advantage of
disk caching is that it improves disk access
speed—50% with a hard drive, 500%
with a floppy drive. A further advantage
of MS-DOS 3.21 is its support of 3 V 2 ",
Sextant November-December 1987 73
1.44-MB floppy drives.
In addition to these advantages, the
’286, like the ’248 and the ’386, is capable
of running Microsoft’s new Operating
System/2 (OS/2). The SVi' disk-drive op¬
tion may interest some users who’d like
the ability to swap disks between the ’286
and a laptop. So, even though it may not
perform as outstandingly as the ’248,
Zenith’s new Z286 nonetheless gives
users IBM-PC-AT compatibility in a
smaller, less expensive package.
Contact Zenith Data Systems, 1000
Milwaukee Avenue, Glenview, IL 60025;
800/842-9000, ext. 1.
DON’T MISS OUT!
Circle #249 on the
Reader Service Card
between pages 46 and
47 to participate in a
survey of Heath/
Zenith IBM-PC
compatible users. We
need your input.
BOB&PHIUS TRAVEL AGENCY
The Z286 offers a choice of SVk" or 514" disk drives.
S & K Technology, Inc.
Quality Software for Heath/Zenith Microcomputers
Announcing PC Watchword® Version 3
New features:
• Mail merge and automatic indexing
• DOS command execution with screen capture
• User defined display fonts (EGA only)
• Proportional font support for the HP LaserJet
• Arithmetic with user-settable precision and base
• Expanded manual loaded with new commands
Plus all of the features of Watchword Version 2 including formatting, centering, macros, horizontai
scrolling on long lines, large file capability, split screen, color, and an extensive configuration facility.
PC Watchword $129.95
PC Watchword Demo Disk $2.00
Resident Speller Demo Disk $2.00
PC Resident Speller^"
(includes STRIKE'*)
STRIKE
$99.95
$49.95
SPECIAL OFFER: PC WatchWord - PC Resident Speller Combination $199.95
Texas Residents add state sales taix.
S & K Technology, Inc., 4610 Spotted Oak Woods, San Antonio, TX 78249, (512) 492-3384
Circle #230 on Reader Service Card
74 Sextant November-Decemher 1987
Classified Ads
Information
PERSONAL COMPUTER OWNERS
can earn $1,000 to $5,000 monthly, sell¬
ing simple services performed by their
computer. Work at home—in spare time.
Get free list of 100 best services to offer.
Write: A.I.M.F.V., PO. Box 60369, San
Diego, CA 92106-8369.
Software
EXCLUSIVE SOFTWARE RIGHTS for
simulation game software: Vega-Bound
I/II, USS Fast Attack, and Jim’s War are
for sale. Games currently run on ZlOO
only. IBM PC, Apple Mac, Commodore
Amiga, etc., are untapped, and represent
huge potential. No other games like these
are available from anyone. (See reviews in
REMark.) Author leaving game software
business, and wants good development
home for programs. Suggest learning
source code (compiled Z-BASIC) on
ZlOO. (My system is available—package
deal?) Microsoft Quick BASIC would be
ideal conversion tool. Best serious offer.
Jim Illman, 206/365-1542 (Seattle).
Hardware
H89A with 256K D-G Super-89, dual
80-track DD/DS, dual external HS/SD
drives. Also, all original boards, technical
manuals, and lots of software. $400 cash
takes all! Pat Decano, 206/882-2626, 206/
882-3061.
ZlOO, 8087, 10-MB HD, 768K, 8-MHz,
some software; $1,000. Steve Ellstrom,
199 Buckwood Drive, Hyannis, MA
02601, 617/778-1430.
Z89, 64K, like new, used very little,
software included. Over $2,000 invested.
$275 all. 717/584-4644.
ZlOO, Clarkson model, 768K, full color/
RGB memory, two 5W' drives, UCI
board, mouse, speed-up chip. All
manuals, software, and Epson LX-80
printer. $2,100 or best offer. 518/891-
2670; 518/891-2063 nights.
H/ZlOO all-in-one, 8-MHz, 512K on
motherboard, two 5W', two 8" DS/DD
drives, manuals, software. $1,200.
Stephen Dydo, 718/636-2109.
ZlOO low-profile, 11-MB hard disk,
speed chip, 768K memory, monitor, and
much software. Also, Z29 smart terminal.
Best offer. Joe Noth, 312/638-4880.
ZlOO low-profile, 768K, full video RAM,
green monitor, two 360K drives, 2400-
baud modem with cables, lots of software.
$795, negotiable. Paul, 607/336-7921
nights.
H/ZlOO low-profile, 768K, RGB color
monitor, dual 5V4" drives, dual 8" drives.
How to Order a Classified Ad
To get in touch with your fellow
Heath/Zenith users, place your
short notice in Sextant’s classified
section. The rate is 750 per word,
with a minimum of 15 words.
Please omit all specific ref¬
erences to software, unless the
package is unopened. If un¬
opened, please specify.
Send your typewritten ad and
payment to: Sextant, Classified Ad
Department, 716 E Street S.E.,
Washington, DC 20003. Please in¬
clude your name and phone num¬
ber for our records.
Deadline is November 19 for the
January-February 1988 issue, and
January 14 for the March-April
issue.
spare 5V4" drive. Technical manuals and
software. $950. 408/238-9051.
H19 and H37 drives. Write: Bill
Shumate, 4112 Stutz Court, Tucker, GA
30084.
Coming Up in Sextant
tiii^ Hard-disk management on
the *248
Some tips on writing
computer games
Another look at fractal
images
A review of the Scottie Board
for the *100
It"#- Speeding up the H8
ti#' An MS-DOS program that
lets you trace your family*s
roots
A handy scroll utility for
CPIM
The ENABLE integrated
package for MS-DOS
Sextant Novemher-December 1987 75
NOW 20% OFF “THE BEST FOR CP/M”
YOUR MONEY BACK IF THESE PROGRAMS
DON’T MAKE YOUR COMPUTER EASIER TO
USE IN THIRTY DAYS.
“The Best for CP /M” was what one very
satisfied H-8 user calied these two packages.
CompuMagic’s acclaimed Utility Package has 20 hard-working
programs guaranteed to make your computer time more
productive. ($45 alone)
Our fantastic SEARCH program finds words and phrases in
text files. Use it to find “lost” information or to replace cumber¬
some index programs. ($30 alone)
BUY BOTH NOW FOB ONLY $60
SEND $60 Check or MO (Personal checks accepted) or call with your MC, Visa,
or COD order. NO charge for UPS ground shipping. Add $2 for UPS COD and $5
for foreign orders. (MD Res. add 5% tax.) Available in 5" Hard Sector and 5" and
8" Soft Sector Formats. Be sure to specify exactly what you need.
CompuMagic, Inc."
P.O. Box 437
Severn, MD 21144
(301) 969-8068
Circle #156 on Reader Service Card
Scuttlebutt
“We coulda been a contender” is a
phrase not likely to be uttered from
Zenith’s lips. The company won a
unanimous decision in the second
round of bidding over three other
computer companies, landing its fourth
military contract in five years.
Under the three-year, $ 104-million
contract with the Department of
Defense, Zenith will supply about
90,000 Z180-series laptops. Primary
purchasers will be the U.S. Navy, Air
Force, Army, and Defense Logistics
Agency.
Bundled with the 180, one of the
goodies Zenith dropped in the DOD’s
$ 104-million lap is Enable, the
integrated software package put out by
The Software Group of Ballston Lake,
New York. The program contains five
modules: word processing, spreadsheet,
data base management, graphics, and
telecommunications. You can jump
between modules with just the press of
a key.
Because Enable has gained such
attention at home, it should have little
trouble winning popularity abroad. The
package is now available in 23 countries
in nine languages, including French,
German, Swedish, Norwegian, Italian,
Finnish, and Japanese (Kanji). Enable’s
linguistic versatility may help land it a
special Nobel Prize for Promoting
Unity in Worldwide Gomputer
Applications.
From the As-American-as-Sushi
Dep t.: Zenith, the only remaining
“made-in-the-USA” television
manufacturer, is commissioning Sanyo
to build, in Japan, an undetermined
but large quantity of the ’180s going to
the military. Despite the U.S.
government’s trade sanctions against
Japan several months ago, the price of
the military’s machines will not be
affected. The Air Force reportedly is
indifferent about the machines being
built in Japan, but was less apathetic
about Toshiba’s illegal sale of milling
machines to the Soviet Union when
deciding on its supplier. According to
an article in Electronic News, the Air
Force was ordered by DOD officials to
start a second round of bidding to avoid
potential embarrassment and possible
illegality for giving the award to
Toshiba, even though Toshiba was
rumored to have bid lowest in the first
round. Chalk up another one for truth,
justice, and the American Way.
John P. Frank, one of the principal
engineers of Zenith Data Systems’
“niche ” marketing strategy, has been
appointed president of Zenith Data
Systems. Frank succeeds Robert P.
Dilworth, who had been at the helm
for two years.
Having started as national sales
manager, Frank quickly rose through
the ranks as vice president of sales,
vice president of marketing, and senior
vice president of sales and marketing,
to his current executive position.
And what about Dilworth? The
former president hasn’t abandoned the
Zenith community. He’ll act as
consultant to ZDS as he takes
command at Metricom, a new
electronic metering venture in
Cupertino, California. According to the
announcement, Dilworth made the
move “to return to his first love, a
smaller, privately held company. ”
“Billions fitted here.” That sign may
be appearing sooner than you think.
An item in the August 20 “TechTalk”
column of USA Today reported on the
project of Dana Rogers, an electrical
engineer at the University of Dayton.
Rogers has created a program that will
“read” a person’s body measurements
and convert them to a personally
tailored pattern. Rogers plans to do
some more work on the program using
an optical scanner and his ZlOO, then
give it to his daughter Beth. If all goes
well, Beth would like to open a
clothing store, paving the way for
McDresses and McSuits everywhere.
ZDS reports that it has agreed to
market Operating System/2 (OS/2),
Microsoft’s operating system for 80286-
and 80386-based computers. The
operating system, currently in beta
testing by Zenith, surpasses MS-DOS’s
640K random-access memory limit to
allow support of up to 16 megabytes.
Another improvement is the ability
to process multiple applications
concurrently. ZDS plans to ship OS/2
by late 1987, and will include
Microsoft’s Windows 2.0 or
Presentation Manager.
“Arigato (Thanks), Zenith,” may
become a common phrase in the halls
of Tokyo-based C. Itoh & Company
Limited. The world’s largest trading
company will distribute Zenith’s flat
tension mask color picture tube in the
Far East, beginning in January.
The flat tension mask technology,
which cost $50 million to produce, is
expected to return many benefits for
Zenith. The tube’s perfect flatness
frees images from geometric distortion.
John P. Frank takes command as
president of Zenith Data Systems.
so that straight lines appear as straight
lines. Otto Genutis, president of
Zenith’s Components Group, said that
Japanese computer makers have so far
been impressed by the ergonomics and
performance of the display. Genutis
also said that “the tube’s high-
resolution capabilities make it ideal for
display of Oriental writing.”
Are you listening. Zenith? According
to Jocelyn Young, an analyst for
McGraw Hill’s Future Computing unit,
vendors who focus on service and
support can expect to increase their
personal computer sales over the next
five years. Young suggests, however,
that customer loyalty has become a key
to survival, and isn’t merely a profit¬
making tool.
To capitalize on this trend. Young
says, vendors must start paying more
attention to repeat buyers, because
they will represent the bulk of future
business.
Young says that vendors who follow
the seemingly simple practice of giving
the customers what they want can
expect to stay afloat as the computer
market matures into the 1990s.
In the August 1987 issue of REMark,
Jim Buszkiewicz reported that the
national Heath/Zenith Users’ Group
Conference held in Chicago in August
would be the last. The report was
reiterated at the conference itself.
Yet, Jim also hinted at HUGCON
that there was a glimmer of a chance
that future national conferences might
once again be held.
hug’s current plans are to make
future HUGCONs regional and to have
local Heath stores sponsor them.
76 Sextant November-December 1987
Great Stuff
Great Support
Twelve Years of Satisfied Customers.
IlSlJJli
FBE ZMFIOOA
Maximize
Your H/^100
Reader Service #142
Expand Old Motherboard RAM
Short of Memory? Our ZMFlOOa
expands your "old" motherboard RAM to
768K using 256K memory chips. Easy
plug-in installation requires no soldering.
Part numbers 181-4917 or less (board
number 85-2653-1 only!). Memory chips
not included. ZMFIOOA $65.
^171 Memory
Expansion
Reader Service #220
One Mega Byte RAM for Z-171
Our MegaRAM-171 let's you install a
megabyte of RAM in your Z-171 as 640K of
main memory and a 384K RAM disk. Plug¬
in installation, no soldering. Includes
circuit card, RAM disk software, and
documentation. MegaRAM-171 $89.95.
Idle Memory Card Put to Work
Left over Z-205 memory card? Modify
the Z-205 to take 256K memory chips,
giving you 256K of regular memory plus a
768K RAM disk using supplied software.
Contact us for data sheet before ordering.
Memory chips not included. Additional
components may be required for certain
Z-100 configurations. ZRAM-205 $49.
Clock Uses
No Slot
Reader Service #169
Date and Time on Bootup
The FBE SmartWatch gives you on-line
date and time without using an expansion
card slot. Installs under the monitor/BIOS
ROM. Ten year battery. Software included.
Uses the Dallas Semiconductor DS1216E
SmartWatch module. Works with H/Z-lOO,
H/Z-138/148, H/Z-150/160 series, H/Z-158,
and others. FBE SmartWatch for Z-100
$46.95. All others $44.95
H/Z-89 Corner
Reader Service #116
Two Port Parallel Interface
Connect parallel interface printer or
other devices to the H/Z-89 with our
H89PIP Parallel Interface card. One output
port, one input/output port. Right or left
side installation. Driver software included
(specify disk format and printer).
H89PIP $50. Printer Cable $24.
Electronic Disk/ Interface
Add 128K electronic disk plus powerful
printer spooling capability by installing our
Spooldisk 89 on the right side H/Z-89 bus.
Contact us for detailed data sheet describing
this uniquely useful product.
Spooldisk 89 $195.
Add an Expansion Slot
Add an additional expansion slot to the
right side bus with our Slot4 Bus Extender.
Slot4 $45.
Give Your
HIZrl 50 a Boost
Reader Service #102
LIM Expanded Memory
Boost your main memory to 640K and
add 512K of Lotus/Intel/Microsoft-standard
emulated expanded memory with our
LIM 150 modification. Simple to install,
requires no soldering. Works with the
standard H/Z-150/160 memory card.
Includes replacement memory decoder
PAL, Expanded Memory Manager software,
jumper cable, and documentation. Requires
forty-five 256K RAM chips (not included).
UM150 $49.95
Beyond RAM Disks
Squeezing your RAM disk? Add a 512K
RAM disk over and above your regular
memory with our MegaRAM-150. Works
with the standard H/Z-150/160 memory
card. Easy installation requires no soldering.
Includes replacement memory decoder
PAL, RAM disk software. Jumper cable,
and documentation. Requires forty-five
256K RAM chips (not included) for
maximum memory size. Smaller sizes
possible by mixing 64K and 256K chips.
MegaRAM-150 (704K Main Memory)
$49.95. MegaRAM-150 T (640K Main
Memory for EGA Compatabillty) $49.95.
Boost RAM on Existing Card
Our ZP640 PLUS replacement memory
decoder PAL lets you replace two banks of
64K RAM chips on the standard H/Z-150/160
memory card with 256K RAM chips to
increase the memory size to 640K or 704K
ZP640 PLUS $19.95.
Don't Give Up A Serial Port
Keep your second serial port when
adding an internal modem or other serial
device by changing COM2 into COM3. Our
COM3 kit includes a replacement port
decoder PAL, COM3 I/O driver software,
and documentation. COM3 $39.95.
It's Easy to Order
Order direct from us or
see your Heath/Zenith Dealer.
UPS/APO/FPO shipping included.
VISA or MasterCard accepted.
Telephone hours: 9 AM-5 PM,
Pacific Time, Monday-Friday.
FBE Research Company, Inc.
P.O. Box 68234
Seattle, WA 98168
206-246-9815
mmi
Hf P^kAOOESS
Top Rated
Communications Software
Editor’s Choice
PC MAGAZINE
October 28,1986
“An excellent program with
many advanced features,
including a comprehensive
language, unattended host
and file transfer capabilities.”
Rated #1 by
IVtJINGS
NEWSLETTER
September, 1986
“The consistent combi¬
nation of power/usability
ratings put HyperACCESS
at the top...”
Rated QQHQ by
InfoWorld
July 14,1986
“It’s a snap to start using
the program immediately...
you can be communicating
in a matter of minutes.”
Whether you’re just beginning to use your PC for communications
or you’ve been frustrated by iimitations of another program,
HyperACCESS is the answer. Simple for novices. Exhilarating for
experts. Ideal for businesses.
There’s no initial hurdle. HyperACCESS adapts itself to your
computer and modem (it dials, redials, and answers more than 40
models). You can use it just by looking at your screen. The manual
is crystal clear. A detailed training program is included.
It comes ready to call CompuServe, Dow Jones, EasyLink, MCI
Mail, NewsNet, The Source, and others (trial subscriptions
included). Learns your passwords the first time you call and
enters them for you from then on. You can list more than 100
computers (or people) for instant calling. HyperACCESS logs
every call.
Astonishing versatility! Lets you link with systems that defy others.
With mainframes, minis, micros, or RS-232C devices. It emulates
VT52, \/T100/102, TeleVideo 925/950, H19, TTY, Wang, IBM 3101,
and IBM 3278 asynchronous terminals. It supports up to 19,200
baud and transfers files FAST using Kermit, Xmodem (CRC or
Checksum), and ASCII Protocols.
HyperACCESS is an outstanding host, too. Even when you’re not
there, your PC can be accessed by callers who have passwords
you’ve defined. You set whether each caller can read or type
messages, transfer files, run programs*, or use your PC without
restrictions.
HyperACCESS has the clearest, most complete script language, so
you can create custom functions and menus, or automate any
portion of a call. And we give you powerful scripts — transfer files
between unattended PC’s - pick up electronic mail at 2 am - act
as a high-security dialback host, and more.
* Certain programs are incompatible with remote use.
HyperACCESS, trademark of Hilgraeve; IBM, PC, XT, AT, TopView, trademarks of International
trademarks of NSTL, Inc.; InfoWorld, publication of CW Communications, Inc.
Even in the midst of communications, HyperACCESS lets you run
your other DOS software or use your computer’s DOS commands.
And HyperACCESS is so well-behaved, it can also run under
Windows, TopView, DESQview or DoubleDOS, concurrently with
other programs.
Call or Write Today!
800-826-2760 or (313) 243-0576
r
□ Send HyperACCESS on 5V4” disks for $149
□ Send HyperACCESS on 3 V 2 ” disks for $149
□ Send HyperACCESS on SVa" and 3 V 2 ’’
disks for $169
□ Send me a demo disk for $5 (specify 5V4” or 3 V 2 ’
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
Name:
Company Name:
Shipping Address:
City: _
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Zip:
Payment: □ Check □ VISA □ MC Card Exp. Date:
Credit Card #: _____
$149 per copy plus $5 shipping, $20 overseas; Mich, residents $6 sales tax.
System Requirements: IBM PC, XT, AT, or compatibles, 192K RAM min.
PC-DOS 2.0 or greater. (Separate Z-100 version.) Not copy protected.
Hilgraeve Inc.
P.O. Box 941, Monroe, Ml 48161
Communications Software Since 1981.
Business Machines; MS, Windows, trademarks of Microsoft; Software Digest, Ratings Newsletter,
Circle #203 on Reader Service Card
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